'No, he is definitely not..': Should Virat Kohli play T20 World Cup 2022, Sanjay Manjrekar says THIS

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has backed Royal Challengers Bangalore to make it to the IPL 2022 final. He feels that RCB have fixed their squad and playing XI in IPL 2022 and it may take them across the line finally. 

Follow LIVE updates on IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 RR vs RCB

"Things are falling in place for Bangalore, they have class bowlers, they performed well in the last match where Mohammed Shiraz took a crucial wicket," Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ANI. 

Manjrekar also believes that Virat Kohli must play the T20 World Cup 2022 slated to take place in Australia later this year. Kohli got out for just 7 off 8 balls in the all-important IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 between RCB and RR. He finished with 341 runs from 16 games, which tells you that this was one of his poor IPLs. 

"No, Kohli is definitely not droppable because there is a huge difference between IPL and World Cup," Manjrekar backed Kohli to go to Australia. 

"For matches of this stature, you need people who have been there, done that. Therefore, despite Kohli`s form, he should be in the squad along with Rohit Sharma and other newer players," said Manjrekar.

Most runs for india in last two years

Virat Kohli : 1749 (avg. 38.23)
Rishabh pant : 1720 (avg. 40.95)
Rohit sharma : 1704 (avg. 37.8) pic.twitter.com/tim4MgNk74 — ASHWIN (@viratian_tweetz) May 27, 2022

He also said that the current IPL has been a standout one because of its sheer quality. 

"This IPL will be remembered for only one reason - the quality. The lesser-known names maintained the quality of IPL and not the iconic big-name players." He showed optimism towards the new players in the ongoing season, saying they defied the cliche of "big matches, big players."

When asked about his take on KL Rahul`s performance, he said, "When KL Rahul plays as `one of the players` his performance is much better than when he plays as the captain because he takes too much responsibility on himself, especially after he became captain."He further added, "KL Rahul has the ability to play at will. If he thinks that today he will play at a strike rate of 150, he can. But the reason he often slows down is that he has decided to play it safe."