Former Test batsman Sanjay Manjrekar feels Virender Sehwag's absence will not affect India's chances in the T20 World Cup as they have enough back-up to fill up the explosive opener's place.
Sehwag was dropped due to a shoulder injury sustained during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League and was replaced by Tamil Nadu opener Murali Vijay, who had a successful stint with the Chennai Super Kings.
"While Sehwag's absence will hurt, it will not be decisive," Manjrekar said.
"Well, if there was an Indian tour of Australia, a full tour comprising ODIs, and Sehwag was not available due to an injury that would be a huge setback! But in T20, although he will be missed, it is not as if India will start fretting and feel that they cannot win the tournament without him.
"The impact that Sehwag makes in Test cricket is far greater than the impact he makes at the T20 level. I am confident India will be able to bear his loss," he added.
Interestingly, Sehwag was injured during the 2009 World Cup held in England. Although he travelled with the team, Sehwag did not play a game.
Manjrekar also backed Vijay and said he is the right man for the job.
"I think the selectors went for a top order batsman. The idea was to replace an opener with someone who bats at the top of the order. He has been batting at number three and opening as well. More so, at the time of selection, he had already made a century. So I feel his selection ahead of Robin Uthappa is the correct thing. Robin will get his chance too," Manjrekar told Mobile ESPN.
Manjrekar feels India's bench strength is becoming very powerful and IPL has played a major role in this direction.
"The great thing about the IPL is that it threw up a lot of talent that India could use in T20. Somebody like Uthappa was a revelation. Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra did well too. I think the wealth of T20 talent is growing because of the IPL.
"It's surely time to test your bench strength at the highest level because India must find alternatives to the likes of Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid and Zaheer Khan as soon as possible," he said.
