IND vs SA | Manjrekar wants Bhuvneshwar Kumar to play in the T20Is

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels the Indian speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar should be given more chances in the upcoming T20I series against South Africa. 

However, Bhuvneshwar is among five pacers - Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh - in the 18-member Indian squad for the five T20Is against the South Africa team. 

During an interaction on Sports 18, Manjrekar said, "There are lots of candidates. Bhuvneshwar was very good; he has shown that he is a pretty reliable death bowler; India need somebody in the death. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is likely to play; if you have got him in the squad, might as well play him, but there are other exciting options."

The cricketer-turned-commentator has also added that Team India will have a formidable pace attack whichever pace bowler is picked. 

Manjrekar explained, "Avesh Khan is another good candidate; there is Harshal Patel, there is Arshdeep Singh. So there is going to be a real clamour for those spots. India will go for three genuine seam bowlers with Hardik Pandya as their fourth option. It's like pick anyone, and they are still going to be quality."

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah is probably the only fixed pacer to be in India's T20 World Cup squad. However, all five seamers chosen for the South Africa T20Is will try to give a good performance and stake their claim for a place in the Indian team for the mega event.

The 56-year-old also talked about the new pace sensation Umran Malik.

"He (Umran) is there in the squad, he might play a couple of matches but bilateral matches; who cares? It is about the big marquee event, the ICC events. 

"The best thing about Umran Malik is that he gets you wickets in the middle; very few fast bowlers can do that. If India has a combination of spinners who are not wicket-taking in the middle, that's where Umran comes in."

Manjrekar also stated that the Jammu speedster might not get many chances if Team India are looking to field both Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the playing XI, but the former spinner has recently been ruled out of the series due to a hand injury.