"Would Have Been A Simpler, Easy Choice" For Captaincy: Sanjay Manjrekar On Veteran Punjab Kings Player

Punjab Kings failed to chase down a middling target against Delhi Capitals on Monday and as a result face an uphill task in their last match if they are to qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs. The loss left them at 12 points with just one match to play, two behind the likes of Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, who are in the drivers' seat to make it to the top 4.

PBKS captain Mayank Agarwal has endured a tough season with the bat, scoring just 195 in 11 innings and former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels that the team might have lost out on a good batter like Mayank after burdening him with captaincy. He

"We have seen a lot of gambling happening with captains. It's been given to people that we haven't expected. Sanju Samson as captain of Rajasthan Royals, who would have expected that. Mayank Agarwal, when the auctions were happening, you wondering are they going to be making him the captain. When you see certain people on the field, you wonder if they have the leadership capability. Some people surprise you. Shreyas Iyer also got it out of nowhere, but he looks the part. Hardik Pandya was a big gamble and he has done pretty well. Yes, I think it is weighing down on him (Mayank Agarwal). We have seen enough to say that maybe he has taken the responsibility too much," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo's T20 Time Out.

The former India was also of the opinion that in hindsight someone like veteran batter Shikhar Dhawan could have been a much easier choice for the leadership role at Punjab.

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"Now in hindsight Shikhar Dhawan would have been a simpler and easy choice. Mayank always scored faster than KL Rahul for Punjab Kings when they played together so I think they (PBKS) have lost a batter," Manjrekar