"Can't Be Batting At No.4": Sanjay Manjrekar Suggests New Batting Position For Devdutt Padikkal

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Devdutt Padikkal should not be sent at the number four position. Padikkal fared well as an opener in IPL, but the change in his batting position of late has seen him fail in making noticeable contributions. As the former Royal Challengers Bangalore opener continues to struggle with consistency in his current team Rajasthan Royals, Manjrekar has suggested that he should be sent at the number 3 position and RR skipper Sanju Samson should take the 4th spot.

"The ideal batting order for RR would be if they want to keep backing Devdutt Padikkal, then he can't be batting at No.4 because it is tough for somebody who opens the innings to find form batting at No.4. There is Sanju Samson who could make the sacrifice and bat at No.4, which he has done in the past and is a good enough player to do that," Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.

In RR's 72-run win in their IPL 2023 campaign opener, Padikkal scored only 2 runs off 5 balls, while the second match saw him scoring 21 runs off 26 balls. Notably, he had come in to bat at the fifth position in the second game, while Samson came before him.

While Padikkal failed to play a key innings for his team in their second game, RR lost the match to Punjab Kings by a narrow margin of 5 runs.

The southpaw did try his best to up the ante, but he eventually ended with a strike rate of 80.77 and increased his team's trouble.