RCB lost to RR in the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 and were knocked out of the tournament.
In the IPL 2022 Qualifier 2 match at Ahmedabad, RCB suffered a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals (RR) and were knocked out of the cash-rich tournament on Friday (May 27).
After RCB’s exit, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar weighed in on the team’s performance this season and opined that Du Plessis looked a better captain than Virat Kohli.
"RCB have had a slightly better season. Some good things have happened. Faf du Plessis has looked like a better leader than Virat Kohli. But more is expected of them. Having come this far, they should have won. They’ll know exactly what has gone wrong and what has prevented them from going on to win gold instead of bronze," Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo show.
"A lot of credit around the bowling unit has to go to Faf. That’s where we see the captaincy at its best. More often than not, he got it right. He started the season well with the bat, but, like a lot of other players, he too had a split season. Still, he’s the right option to continue as captain, according to me," he added.
In 15 years of the tournament, the Bangalore-based franchise hasn’t yet lifted the coveted title. This year, the team looked composed as they won 8 out of their 14 league matches before beating Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator.
However, RCB’s batting line-up failed to rise to the occasion in Qualifier 2, posting a modest total of 157/8 on the board, which RR chased down with 11 balls to spare on the back of Jos Buttler’s century (106* off 60 balls).