Speaking on Kuhl Fans Match Centre Live on JioHotstar, JioStar expert Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on Mumbai Indians performance: “Mumbai Indians didn’t look in the race when they lost two wickets for 35. In comparison, Gujarat Titans had around 129 runs for their first two wickets. After that, it seemed like Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav were trying to build a partnership. The challenge with building a partnership in a chase of over 190 is that the required run rate starts to suffer, and that’s exactly what happened. In the end, you have to say that Gujarat Titans batted better—I thought they got maybe 15 to 20 runs over par. The dew never came in, which made Mumbai’s job even more difficult. But despite all that, two losses are quite typical for Mumbai Indians. They still seem to be on the right track to go on and win the title.”Analysing Mumbai Indians’ batting performance in the last two matches, JioStar expert Sanjay Manjrekar acknowledged the ongoing struggles for the MI batters, he said: “Rohit Sharma is clearly going through a phase. He’s not the Rohit Sharma of, say, three to four years ago. He’s at a stage in his career where he has to push himself every morning—train hard and be at his best—because things are slipping away for him. He’s still relying on his natural talent and instincts. Ryan Rickelton, being a South African, will take time to adjust to Indian pitches. Very few South African batters, barring AB de Villiers and Heinrich Klaasen, have truly flourished on Indian pitches. So, we’ll have to give him time. Apart from that, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, along with Robin Minz and some of the other players, form the batting line-up. However, to me, it still looks a little unconvincing. And a lot of them rely on pitches where the ball comes onto the bat nicely. There’s pace and bounce, and even in that chase where they needed 12 or 13 runs, if it had been at Wankhede Stadium, they would have likely come very close to the target.”JioStar expert Ambati Rayudu commented on Prasidh Krishna’s and Mohammed Siraj’s performances: “There were some crucial breakthroughs, but Prasidh has not given away any runs. He has been very smart on this pitch today. Speaking about his slower ball, it is quite unique—it’s like a globe spinning on its axis. He took both of his wickets with slower balls. As for Siraj, I have seen him bowl out batsmen many times. His in-swinger is much faster than his out-swinger because he cuts his wrist when attempting the out-swinger, which reduces his pace and causes the ball to start swinging earlier than needed. However, his in-swinger is quite effective, and today he stuck to it after conceding two boundaries.”JioStar expert Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan’s partnership: “Shubman Gill is still not firing on all cylinders, but that will happen very soon. Sai Sudharsan is a special talent—you almost got the impression that he was trying to anchor the innings. He played nearly the entire innings and got out in the 18th over, but his strike rate is never just 110 or 120; it’s always 130 or 140 and above. He’s someone to keep an eye on. He has already played for India, but he keeps reminding us of his exceptional talent. Jos Buttler is also raring to go. There’s a lot of power in the reserves for the Gujarat Titans, and securing this win despite not being at their best is a great feeling.”JioStar expert Sanjay Manjrekar also commented on the upcoming RR vs CSK match on March 30: “I continue to maintain my stance this season that Dhoni’s presence in the team is more for brand value than actual cricketing value. That is the decision CSK has taken—he brings in the crowd and has an enormous following. If Dhoni chooses to bat at No. 8, he will still contribute some runs. Even at No. 9, 10, or 11, he has the ability. However, I don’t think CSK is relying on Dhoni’s batting contributions; they are expecting the other players to do the job. That said, his wicket keeping remains top-notch.”
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