Veteran commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said that he has been left frustrated by the Rajasthan Royals (RR)’s recent performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have failed to replicate their good show since the first edition of the competition. They have mostly ended up among the bottom teams in the league table. Since their win in 2008, they have reached the IPL playoffs only thrice.

However, Manjrekar recently posted a video on his official Instagram account while talking about the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals. He lashed out at RR for not showing the intent. He said: “Rajasthan is a very frustrating franchise for me because after that title that they had won, right at the start of the Indian T20 League, after that they haven’t been the champion material.”

Meanwhile, he also suggested that Rajasthan Royals should be sceptical about having a lot of English players in their team. However, they are not getting the service of their three star English players – Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes as they are unavailable for the second half of IPL 2021 as well.

Sanjay Manjrekar said: ”You’ve got to understand that they are missing’: Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Buttler. But I think there is a lesson for Rajasthan to be a bit sceptical about having too many English players in their squad because they tend to sort of miss the IPL more than other nationality players for various reasons.”

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Sanjay Manjrekar continued: “And one thing that I have failed to understand is how Shivam Dube is getting continuously left out and how Riyan Parag gets to play every game for Rajasthan. So, those are the things about Rajasthan that I don’t understand.”

However, he also praised Rajasthan Royals’ batting all-rounder Mahipal Lomror for his big-hitting abilities and handy left-arm spin during the second half of the league. He also wants Chris Morris to raise his game as well. “As far as RR is concerned, the good thing is that Mahipal Lomror seems to be coming of age – his batting confidence has spilled into his bowling. Sanju Samson is looking terrific. Morris, though, has to raise his game. Also, Tewatia could be used more,” Sanjay Manjrekar again shared.

He also opined that the Royal Challengers Bangalore victory over the Mumbai Indians in their last game was a fortunate one as Mumbai lost wickets at crucial moments.

He said: “RCB’s win in their last match against Mumbai Indians and that would do their confidence a world of good. But there are few issues that they need to look at because otherwise they would be vulnerable against the good sides. They were lucky against Mumbai that Mumbai committed a hierarchy almost.”

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However, Virat Kohli has smashed half-centuries in both of his previous games against CSK and MI but those came at a low strike rate of 120-130. And, Manjrekar criticized his approach.

”What’s happening with Bangalore is they are starting off well. But around 13th-14th overs when the spinners are on, RCB tends to slow down. I think more Virat Kohli is slowing down. I don’t know if he wants to get to his 50 and that has become really important to him. It’s amazing how much the run-rate drops in that phase and that means Bangalore end up getting 20 runs short. And a similar thing happened against Mumbai, but as i said Mumbai were happy to handover the victory to RCB,” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.