Watch: Sanjay Manjrekar criticizes lack of warm-up games for India ahead of BGT 2024-25

Sanjay Manjrekar. ( Photo Source – Twitter / X )

The Indian team is preparing hard for the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series 2024-25 against Australia. The side will kick off the five-game Test series on November 22 with the first Test being played in Perth. Ahead of the series, it was announced that the Indian team will not play a single warm-up game before the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The Men in Blue were whitewashed at home against New Zealand. The Blackcaps clinched the three-match series by 2-0. It should be noted that India lost a home Test after 24 years. Considering this the former India cricketer opined on India’s form and the need for warm-up matches. 

Sanjay Manjrekar thinks that India stalwarts like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would have liked to play some warm-up games before the series. It is worth noting that India cancelled their intra-squad match vs India A as well. 

The same did not sit well with Manjrekar, as he opined that with the kind of form that India has been in, they would have liked to play the warm-up games to prepare. The former cricketer also mentioned India A’s struggle against Australia A despite being in form at home. 

Also Read: ‘Figured out how he bats – R Ashwin’s subtle warning to Steve Smith ahead of BGT 2024-25

“The lack of a warm-up game might make a difference, especially this time because of the kind of form and confidence the team is going with to Australia. It has been a trend in recent times that there are less and less of warm-up games but on this particular tour, we saw that the India A batters struggle despite being in form in the Indian conditions. So yes, India desperately needed more warm-up games,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.

Watch the video below: 

I think we needed some games here: Manjrekar

Furthermore, Manjrekar also talked about how the Indian team can take advantage of the fact that they have often performed better when they have not played many warm-up games before the series. 

“India can counter with the fact that the team has performed better when they have been given fewer warm-up matches. In the 90s, we had many and yet lost 0-4 to Australia. I think Indian batters are getting used to conditions, but this time around, there are many young players. Maybe the earlier team which had experience did not need it, but I think we needed some games here, and I think that Virat and Rohit would have loved to play warm-up games,” he further added.