Sanjay Manjrekar Points Out How Over-Reliance on Jos Buttler Backfired For RR in IPL Final

IPL Final: He asked does Rajasthan look intimidating as a unit if you remove Buttler. 

Ahmedabad: Jos Buttler has been unstoppable throughout IPL 2022. It is Buttler who has at times made Rajasthan look like champions. But that was not to be on Sunday night in Ahmedabad as he could not push on to get a big one. Buttler was dismissed for 39 off 35 balls. During his 35-ball stay, he did not look to be at his fluent best and that hurt the Royals.

Following the seven-wicket loss against Gujarat, ex-India opener Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out how over-reliance on Buttler backfired. He asked does Rajasthan look intimidating as a unit if you remove Buttler.

Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo: “If you remove Buttler from that team, are you intimidated by that batting line-up? There’s (Shimron) Hetmyer who can take you down, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal showed at times that he can be aggressive. Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson as well. But there’s no one as good as Buttler, who had an exceptional season.”

Buttler won the IPL 2022 Orange cap after hammering 863 runs in 17 matches.

“Exceeded all my expectations apart from today – the trophy we really wanted. Disappointed with that. Big congratulations to Hardik and team. Deserving champions. My goals are to play my role for the team and try and react on the day regarding what the game is asking me to do,” Buttler said at the presentation.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 130/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 39, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Hardik Pandya 3/17, R Sai Kishore 2/20) lost to Gujarat Titans 133/3 in 18.1 overs (Shubman Gill 45 not out, Hardik Pandya 34; Trent Boult 1/14, Yuzvendra Chahal 1/20) by seven wickets.