Home » ‘It is weighing down on him’: Sanjay Manjrekar says India star’s form has been affected by IPL captaincy

‘It is weighing down on him’: Sanjay Manjrekar says India star’s form has been affected by IPL captaincy

‘It is weighing down on him’: Sanjay Manjrekar says India star’s form has been affected by IPL captaincy
  • Making the player captain may have cost the team a world class top order batter, Sanjay Manjrekar has said.
Manjrekar said that there have been some players who have surprised as captains this season. (Twitter)
Manjrekar said that there have been some players who have surprised as captains this season. (Twitter)

The 2022 season of the IPL has seen a few new captains emerging among the Indian players. Shreyas Iyer got back to leading a team with Kolkata Knight Riders while Hardik Pandya has had a dream start as a captain with Gujarat Titans likely to finish the league stage at the top of the table.

While Iyer has had mixed results as captain he has scored 351 at a strike rate of 130.48. Meanwhile, the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Mayank Agarwal have seen their own forms dip. While Jadeja gave captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to MS Dhoni and was eventually ruled out of the tournament with an injury, Agarwal has remained captain of the Punjab Kings and their chances of qualifying for the playoffs took a hit after their loss to Delhi Capitals.

“We have seen a lot of gambling happening with captains in the IPL. It has been given to people you wouldn’t expect. Sanju Samson as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who would have expected that. Mayank Agarwal, when the auctions were happening, we were wondering are they going to be making him the captain? Because when you see certain players and you wonder they have the leadership capabilities,” said former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar.

Manjrekar said that Agarwal may have made it difficult for himself as a batter by giving up the opening spot for Jonny Bairstow. While Agarwal has boasted some of the highest strike rates in the last two seasons and scored over 400 runs, he has scored just 195 runs this season at a strike rate of 125.00.

“Some people surprise you, Shreyas Iyer got it out of nowhere but he looks the part. Hardik Pandya was a big gamble and he has done pretty well. Yes, I think it is weighing down on him. We have seen enough to know that maybe he has just taken that responsibility too much.

“The sacrifices is one example of him taking the captaincy very seriously. Now, in hindsight, Shikhar Dhawan would have been an easier choice. Mayank at the top of the order almost always struck quicker and better than KL Rahul at the top of the order so they have lost that batter in the process,” said Manjrekar.

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