Hoping to play for GT or RCB: Abhinav Manohar on IPL Mega Auction aspirations

Abhinav Manohar, who rose to fame with his brilliant finishing skills for the Gujarat Titans (GT) in their as well as his debut season in the Indian Premier League in 2022, has big aspirations from the IPL Mega Auction, scheduled to take place on November 24 and 25 in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. 

In an exclusive interview with cricket.com’s Unwind, Manohar said that he wants to play for either the GT or the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Since Manohar comes from Bengaluru itself and plays state-level cricket for Karnataka, RCB being his second choice was obvious.

Talking about the last mega auction, where Manohar was bought at a whooping INR 2.6 Cr, the Karnataka batter said that he wants his price for this mega auction to be more than the last time. 

Manohar, who has featured in 19 IPL matches, played in only two of them last season. In the previous two seasons before IPL 2024, he had played eight and nine matches in 2022 and 2023 respectively. 

Talking about the lack of game time in the IPL, the 30-year-old said, “I got only two games. To be honest, GT has a lot of finishers, about four or five of them. We have Miller [David], Rahul [Tewatia], Shahrukh [Khan], Rashid Khan and Vijay Shankar. That was the reason why I couldn’t get a long enough run. They wanted someone to click from the word go and that’s why it happened.

They had to do what they did and there are no hard feelings about it. I did my best in improving myself and waiting for my chance. But when the chance came, I was not able to grab it and as a result, I couldn’t maximise that. But that’s sport and this year it will be different.”

Manohar, who can also bowl leg break and google, and has appeared in three First-Class games, seven List-A games and 36 T20s, said that he wants to see himself representing India by 2026. The Bengaluru-born has also not given up on his red-ball dreams but wants to make the white-ball debut for the national team first. 

If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here