'Nosedive from 153 to 86': Sanjay Manjrekar questions Kohli's batting in RCB's loss vs CSK

In the IPL 2021 RCB vs CSK match, the Royal Challengers Bangalore started their innings very quickly as Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal scored some quick runs. However, former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes that Captain Kohli started playing cautiously and slowed down after crossing the 40-run mark.

The commentator called out the opener for the drastic fall in his strike rate. Virat Kohli started his innings in a quick manner as he scored 40 runs off 26 balls at a strike rate of 153.84. But soon, a sudden decrease came in his strike rate as he scored his next 13 runs off 15 balls at a strike rate of 86.66, scoring a total of 53 runs off 41 balls with the help of 6 fours and a six.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar told,

"I thought there was a different Virat Kohli batting today. He was stepping out to the fast bowlers. He was really batting like a T20 opener, throwing caution to the wind and going down the pitch and stuff that he doesn’t do that much. And come to 40, he drastically slowed down. I couldn’t understand that."

Manjrekar also feels that the drop in his strike rate was due to the significant decisions that the 32-year-old had recently made regarding his T20 captaincy. He added,

"Clearly when he got close to 50, he slowed down. And I just wonder, the time that he is going through with all the decisions he has taken around T20 cricket and with the runs not coming in, whether he got a bit caught up in that thing about getting to 50 because it’s a huge nosedive from 153 to 86 when there is no apparent reason".

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have started weakly in the second leg of the IPL 2021. They were bowled out for 92 runs in their first match, which they lost by 9 wickets to the Kolkata Knight Riders. The next match saw them score 156 runs in 20 overs against the Chennai Super Kings, but that total was insufficient as they suffered their second defeat of this leg.

Manjrekar suggests captaincy options for RCB

Before the start of the second leg of IPL, Virat Kohli announced that the current edition of the IPL would be his last season as RCB captain. Kohli started his captaincy for RCB in the year 2013, and although he won’t be leading them from next season, he will continue to play as a batsman.

As the mega-auction for 2022 draws closer, all the teams will see a lot of reshuffling given that only a few players can be retained. And according to Sanjay Manjrekar, RCB should look to buy West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard, as he is a great leader who can lead the team very well. The Caribbean star is also the captain of the West Indies and leads Trinbago Knight Riders in CPL.

Manjrekar stated that RCB should not hand over the captaincy to AB de Villiers as he believes the player does not have many years left in him. Apart from Pollard, Manjrekar chose Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav and former Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner as options RCB can look at.

Image: Instagram/@Sanjaysphotos/ PTI