"Mahipal Lomror doesn't bat at No. 3 even for his state team" - Wasim Jaffer raises questions on RCB's batting order in IPL 2023
Former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer believes that Mahipal Lomror should not bat at No.3 for Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023).
Jaffer pointed out that Lomror doesn't bat in the top three even in domestic cricket, and is better suited in the middle order. He opined that the Bangalore-based side should instead try someone like Suyash Prabhudessai for the No. 3 spot.
The 45-year-old further suggested that Rajit Patidar's absence has hurt RCB, adding more pressure to their senior batters.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after the side's eight-run loss against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he said:
"Mahipal Lomror doesn't bat at No.3 even for his state team. It's far too up for his standard. They are definitely missing Rajat Patdiar and it puts a lot of pressure on Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell to come good. If they don't come good and if they don't bat deep, they are in trouble.
"Suyash Prabhudessai bats for Goa at the top of the order. He is probably one of those guys who can bat at three, and then Lomrom actually bats at five, six and seven for Rajasthan. He can come down. Even for Rajasthan Royals, he has batted at five or six.
"Anuj Rawat can also strike. But all they've got are Indian guys who haven't done the job yet. But I feel Suyash Prabhudessai is better off batting at three rather than six or seven."
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Notably, RCB failed to chase down CSK's 226-run target at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 17, suffering their third loss of the season. Lomror failed to make a significant impact with the bat and was dismissed for a five-ball duck.
The left-handed batter has managed to score just 26 runs from three outings in IPL 2023 at an ordinary strike rate of 113.04.
"If you don't do it against this bowling attack and this ground, it's going to be difficult" - Wasim Jaffer on RCB's eight-run loss to CSK
Wasim Jaffer further stated that the onus was on Dinesh Karthik to seal the game for his team. He noted that the veteran keeper-batter needed to bat till the end, given that there wasn't any firepower left in the batting order after him.
Expressing concerns over RCB's batting, Jaffer reckoned that these aren't good signs that the team failed to do the job against an inexperienced bowling lineup, adding:
"Dinesh Karthik needed to finish this game because there's not much power or experience in that lower half. That's where I feel they kind of felt light today because, looking at the CSK bowling attack, they didn't have experience and everyone is pretty new.
"If you don't do it against this bowling attack and this ground, it's going to be difficult. Dinesh Karthik was the guy."
Karthik scored 28 runs from 14 balls. However, once he got out in the 17th over, there was a considerable drop in RCB's scoring rate.