“They need a batter who is a little more consistent than Riyan Parag” - Sanjay Manjrekar dissects RR’s problem areas in IPL 2022

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) missed an all-rounder like Rahul Tewatia during their IPL 2022 campaign. Admitting that Riyan Parag plays a similar role, the 56-year-old stated, however, that he is not consistent enough.

RR enjoyed a good season and made it to their first final since the inaugural IPL edition in 2008. However, they couldn't make it over the line and were hammered by seven wickets by the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Reflecting on the Sanju Samson-led team’s performance in the season, Manjrekar admitted that they have got most bases covered. He, however, added that RR need a good middle-order hitter who can chip in with the ball as well. During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar said:

“RR have got 80-90 percent of the team right for the next season as well. They need a batter who is a little more consistent than, maybe, a Riyan Parag and can also bowl 2-3 overs. Somebody like a Rahul Tewatia should be a good fit. Otherwise, the side looks okay.”

Ironically, Tewatia was with Rajasthan for the previous two seasons. He was released by the franchise ahead of the mega auction and was purchased by Gujarat.

Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori also chipped in with his views on why RR could not lift the title despite reaching the final. The Kiwi opined that the team’s overdependence on Jos Buttler came back to haunt them and explained:

“If you remove Buttler from that team, are you intimidated by that batting line-up? There’s (Shimron) Hetmyer who can take you down, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal showed at times that he can be aggressive. Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson as well. But there’s no one as good as Buttler, who had an exceptional season.”

To drive home his point, Vettori added:

“It’s potentially about whether they can strengthen that middle-order. Trent Boult at 8 is too short a batting line-up.”

Buttler won the IPL 2022 Orange cap after hammering 863 runs in 17 matches. He top-scored for Rajasthan with 39 in the final, but once he was dismissed, the middle and lower-order collapsed. They ended up with 130/9 batting first, a total that was never going to be enough.

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“You don’t win an IPL title at the auction” - Sanjay Manjrekar on GT’s triumph

While RR faltered on the big day, GT were on top of their game and dominated the final. Ahead of the season, not many pundits gave the Hardik Pandya-led franchise a chance to finish in the Top 4. Reflecting on Gujarat’s win in their maiden IPL season, Sanjay Manjrekar made an interesting observation. He said:

“When the auction finished, no one gave Mumbai Indians a chance, but the same was true with Gujarat Titans. Not many people thought like - ‘wow, they have done really well with the selection of players and captain, and they have got their formula right’. The lesson from this IPL is, you don’t win an IPL title at the auction.”

Gujarat dominated the league stage of the T20 competition this season, finishing as the table-toppers. They defeated Rajasthan by seven wickets in Qualifier 1 before beating them by the same margin in the final on Sunday.