"Earlier generation had to play outside their comfort zone" - Former India batter examines Men in Blue's T20I revolution

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that the Men in Blue have dominated T20I cricket lately as they have players with the skill and the temperament to follow an ultra-aggressive template. Manjrekar opined that this was tough for the previous generation of Indian cricketers, who seemed out of their comfort zone in the T20 format.

Team India thumped England by a whopping 150 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, February 2 in the fifth T20I of the five-match series. Sent into bat, the hosts posted 247-9 as Abhishek Sharma clobbered 135 off 54 balls. Under pressure in the chase, England folded up for 97 in just 10.3 overs. With the triumph in Mumbai, India clinched the five-match series by a 4-1 margin.

Analyzing Team India's terrific performances in the T20I format over the last year, Manjrekar told ESPNcricinfo that the new generation of players is taking the team forward in the desired direction. He elaborated:

"It was relentless when I saw Rinku Singh come in after Shivam Dube [in the Mumbai T20I]. So, India have got batting depth as well as batters committed to this style of batting. Plus, batters who have the ability - the new generation they think more like this. It's not the earlier generation that had to play outside their comfort zone."

While Abhishek slammed a sensational hundred, also breaking a few records along the way, Dube hammered 30 off just 13 balls, while Tilak Varma contributed 24 off 15 balls.

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"The big plus is the mark the spinners have made" - Manjrekar praises India's slow bowlers after T20I win

While several Indian batters made a huge impact during the T20I series against England, for Manjrekar the performance of the spinners was the big positive. He praised Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi for playing a significant hand in India dominating the series. He said:

"The big plus is the mark the spinners have made. Axar Patel has been handy, Varun Chakravarthy has continued his great form. Bishnoi, who was quiet in the first couple of matches, just came into his own as well."

"Like in Test cricket, when India were dominating, their bowlers kept getting India back. Let's not forget the first part of this T20 series. It were the spinners who were getting India in great shape to win matches," Manjrekar concluded.

Chakravarthy was named Player of the Series for claiming 14 wickets in five matches at an average of 9.86 and an economy rate of 7.67. Axar picked up six scalps, while Bishnoi ended the series with five.