"Will be a pity for Rajasthan" - Mpumelelo Mbangwa on Shimron Hetmyer's return in IPL 2022

Former Zimbabwe cricketer Mpumelelo Mbangwa reckons it will be interesting to see whether Rajasthan Royals (RR) star Shimron Hetmyer is able to continue from where he left off in IPL 2022. Hetmyer is likely to return for his side's crucial encounter against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) tonight (May 20).

The left-handed batter was arguably RR's second-most prolific batter after Jos Buttler before he briefly left the side. He smashed 291 runs in 11 games at a mind-boggling average of 72.75 and a strike rate of 166.29.

However, Hetmyer was unavailable for the past few games as he returned home to the Caribbean to welcome his newborn child. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Mbangwa opined that if Hetmyer takes his time to find his feet again, RR could struggle. He said:

"With him (Hetmyer) coming back after a break, he might straight away get on the bike or look to find form, which will be a pity for Rajasthan."

The detailed IPL 2022 schedule are available here.

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Shimron Hetmyer might come in for James Neesham: Mpumelelo Mbangwa

Mbangwa believes that the obvious change RR would make for their game against CSK would be the return of Shimron Hetmyer in place of James Neesham.

But with Neesham being able to give them a few overs, Mbangwa feels Rajasthan might lose out on an extra bowling option. The 45-year-old feels the Royals might need to find a way to bring in someone like Kuldeep Sen too, so that they have an extra bowling option up their sleeve.

On this, Mbangwa stated:

"Shimron Hetmyer might come in for James Neesham, but I consider him (Neesham) a bowling all-rounder. So they will be thinning their bowling. So they might want to try and fit in Kuldeep Sen and make some other changes, which is difficult."

RR have a healthier net run rate than the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who are currently in second spot. The Royals will fancy their chances of getting two points against CSK to displace LSG and play Qualifier 1 against the Gujarat Titans.