File photo of Virat Kohli during IPL 2025© AFP
Former Indian cricket team batter Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out that Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s success in the ongoing IPL 2025 can be attributed to teamwork and not any individual brilliance. In his column for Hindustan Times, Manjrekar wrote that RCB had six different Player Of The Match winners in the seven wins – a fact that proves that they have clicked as a team. In the past, RCB have been overly dependent on massive names like Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and Chris Gayle. However, even with Virat performing brilliantly this year, Manjrekar wrote that their teamwork is a great sign.
“For starters, in the seven wins so far, RCB have had six different players as Player-of-the-Match with Krunal Pandya receiving this honour twice. Basically, RCB have had many different heroes through the season and this is always a great sign to look for in a team; a team that’s not dependent on a couple of players to win matches,” Manjrekar wrote in the column.
“Individual brilliance can win you some matches but to win consistently you need multiple infusions of brilliance through different sources. Like it’s in other formats, it’s the bowling attack that sets a team apart; yes, batting is important, but this time around RCB’s bowling unit has been in top form,” he added.
Manjrekar found himself in a bit of controversy for his comments on Virat’s strike rate and that resulted in Virat’s brother – Vikas – taking a dig at him on social media. The former India star doubled down on his analysis and said that although media tends to praise batters, RCB bowlers have been the real heroes.
“Our media tends to focus on the batter a lot, but this is another case in point where the batters are in the spotlight but it’s the bowlers who get the points. Krunal Pandya has been Player-of-the-Match twice for RCB this season, but how many times has he really made the headlines or basked in the limelight?”
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