Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels Faf Du Plessis has looked a better captain than Virat Kohli for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 season. He also expressed that the team had a better season this year compared to the last.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to make it to the finals of the Indian Premier League 2022 season. They lost to the Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the second qualifier on Friday. Batting first the Faf Du Plessis-led team managed to put on 157 runs on the board, on the back of Rajat Patidar’s fifty. However, Jos Buttler’s fourth century of the season shattered Royal Challengers Bangalore’s hopes.
Analyzing the team’s performance in the tournament, Manjrekar said in a discussion with the Espncricinfo:
“RCB has had a slightly better season. Some good things have happened. Faf du Plessis has looked like a better leader than Virat Kohli. But more is expected of them. Having come this far, they should have won. They’ll know exactly what has gone wrong and what has prevented them from going on to win gold instead of bronze.”
Lot of credit around the bowling unit has to go to Faf Du Plessis: Sanjay Manjrekar
The former cricketer further expressed that the credit for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowling performance should go to the skipper, Faf Du Plessis. He added that Faf used his bowling resources perfectly on most occasions. Sanjay Manjrekar said:
“A lot of credit around the bowling unit has to go to Faf. That’s where we see the captaincy at its best. More often than not, he got it right. He started the season well with the bat but, like a lot of other players, he too had a split season. Still, he’s the right option to continue as captain according to me.”
Sanjay Manjrekar also spoke about Mohammed Siraj’s failure to live up to the expectations this season. The pacer has been very expensive, conceding runs at an economy rate of 10.07, with just nine wickets to his name.
“There were expectations around Siraj. Him going at almost 10 for the season is something that we never anticipated. He could have been a difference-maker if he had bowled like he did last season,” Manjrekar concluded.
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