Indian Premier League is all set to begin from 19th September in the United Arab Emirates. The fans have started to get excited about the big cricket festival that is knocking at the door. The ex-Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar who is also a commentator of Star Sports has tried to analyse the batting depth of the teams in this upcoming tournament. However, his choices have not impressed the fans.
The Story So Far And His Picks
According to Sanjay Manjrekar, Chennai Super Kings have the best batting line up in this tournament. Chennai Super Kings is certainly one of the most consistent sides in the history of Indian Premier League. However, the runners up of previous edition’s IPL will miss the service of Suresh Raina as the player has gone back to India due to personal reasons. The loss of Suresh Raina is certainly huge for Chennai Super Kings. Raina has played an immense role throughout his career for this side and his absence will surely be felt this time. However, the experienced players like Shane Watson, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Faf Du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav can still make the difference.
In Manjrekar’s list, Kings XI Punjab is at the second position. KL Rahul, Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal are three explosive Indian batsmen along with three foreigners Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell and Jimmy Neesham. Delhi Capitals are at the third position and their batting lineup consists the names like Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Risabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Carey and Shimron Hetmyer. The fans have asked to shift the position between Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals. However, Sanjay Manjrekar has told that KL Rahul is currently in great form and he might play a key role for Kings XI Punjab in this season. The players like Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan and Mandeep Singh play the spin well and they also have the X-factor like Glenn Maxwell in their side.
The previous year’s Champions Mumbai Indians are at the fourth place in his ranking. Led by Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians consists the batsmen like Quinton de Cock, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya.
What Sanjay Manjrekar Went On To Add?
Royal Challengers Bangalore are at the fifth position in this list. Kolkata Knight Riders are at the sixth position. However, they have included the likes of Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan in their side. They already have Shubhman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana and Sunil Narine in their squad. So, this ranking is also quite controversial.
Right, here we go guys! ? As promised, my rating of batting units, if pitches turn in UAE.
1) CSK
2) KXI
3) DC
4) MI
5) RCB
6) KKR
7) SRH
8) RRNext : Rating of seam attacks on slow, 140/150 average score, pitches.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) September 4, 2020
It was initially suggested that the Sunrisers Hyderabad players like David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Jonny Bairstow would miss the season. However, they are playing throughout the whole season now. Despite that, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey and Wriddhiman Saha will have to extra responsibility. They are at the seventh position in Sanjay Manjrekar’s ranking.
The last team in the ranking of Sanjay Manjrekar is Rajasthan Royals. The Indian players like Robin Uthappa, Manan Vohra and Sanju Samson have to perform well along. That is along with Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. The ranking of Sanjay Manjrekar is based according to the pitches of UAE.
