World Cup 2023: Sanjay Manjrekar explains why Kuldeep Yadav should play ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal

With the World Cup 2023 fixtures out, discussions over Team India's selection for the marquee event has begun. Sanjay Manjrekar has backed Kuldeep Yadav to feature in the playing eleven ahead of his senior Yuzvendra Chahal.

Explaining his opinion, Manjrekar said unlike T20Is where the batters keep on hitting the big shots and give wicket-taking opportunities to the bowlers, the circumstances in ODIs are completely opposite. He has reckoned that Kuldeep Yadav will give India more breakthrough chances than Yuzvendra Chahal in 50-over cricket.

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"I don't think so. Very rarely it can happen depending on the opposition. If there is a real weakness in the opposition to play wrist-spin, then you have Kuldeep Yadav and Chahal both playing in the XI.

"I see Chahal being part of the squad but I prefer Kuldeep Yadav when it comes to wrist-spin as the spinner in 50-over cricket. I am getting a little technical here. You need a spinner who can get wickets of batters while they are pushing, not hitting the big shots.

"In T20 cricket, that is something you see very often. That's how spinners get wickets. In 50-overs cricket, it's a game where you push more than you actually slog. So a spinner capable of getting those wickets is Kuldeep Yadav. So he is sort of my first-choice wrist-spinner in the playing XI and then I will be looking at other options," Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo.

However, the former India batter backed Chahal to feature in India's World Cup 2023 squad, pointing out at the death over vulnerability of the Men in Blue. He said chances of Jasprit Bumrah playing was "slim".

"What India needs even more in this World Cup are spinners who will get you wickets in the middle to just make the lives of India's death bowlers easy. Bumrah playing is a slim chance and India have a problem with death bowling and that's why I would have Chahal in the squad."

"On a particular ground where the boundaries are long and the opposition is weak against spin, these are the guys who will get you wickets in the middle. But on a flat pitch and small ground, too dangerous to play both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal," Manjrekar concluded.

India will kick off their World Cup 2023 campaign against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, October 8.