Former India cricketer and a current commentator Sanjay Manjrekar stated that Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer was a far better captain that Virat Kohli who was the skipper of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sanjay Manjrekar ranked the captains of the IPL and according to his analysis, Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni deserved the maximum applause and rated him the best among the skippers. Dinesh Karthik, the skipper of KKR was not included in Manjrekar’s list.
Manjrekar gave 9 points to MS Dhoni out of 10 as a skipper despite his team failing in the final hurdle and losing the match against Mumbai Indians by a solitary run. He deducted a point from MS Dhoni’s leadership as he had persisted with Shane Watson for a long time despite the former Australian all-rounder not able to perform for the major length of the tournament.
“Rohit Sharma has been around for a long time. Very reliable, balanced captain. Doesn’t make too many major mistakes. Knows how to handle some of the big guns in the team… I just like the ways he conducts the business out there,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. Rohit Sharma was given 8 points out of 10.
Despite Ravichandran Ashwin making headlines with his controversial ‘Mankading’ dismissal, he was given 7 points by Sanjay Manjrekar. He said that Ashwin is a terrific player and an excellent package as a captain of the Kings XI Punjab franchise.
“There is always some thought going on in every move and every selection,” Manjrekar said, calling Ashwin an interesting leader and not a run of the mill.
Sanjay Manjrekar also rated Ajinkya Rahane, the Rajasthan Royals skipper who led the franchise in part of the tournament. Manjrekar was disappointed with his leadership and gave him only 5 points. However, he has a point extra to Steve Smith who led RR during the latter part of the tournament.
He gave 8 points to Shreyas Iyer who did a fantastic job for Delhi Capitals he le them to the playoffs after 7 years. Meanwhile, he gave just 6 points to Virat Kohli and criticised him and the RCB team management for not bagging productive players in the auctions. His ranking for Kane Williamson, the Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper was 7 out of 10. However, it was also Bhuvneshwar Kumar who led the franchise during the absence of Kane Williamson.