Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan questioned Mahipal Lomror’s exclusion from Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s final XI in the match against Rajasthan Royals, which the former lost by six wickets at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday.

Pathan said Lomror has the experience of playing on this pitch in the domestic circuit as he plays for Rajasthan. Lomror has scored 50 runs in two matches of the ongoing season for RCB and has made an ‘impact’ as an impact substitute.

The left-hander has a strike rate of 238.09, which is second-best in the season to Andre Russell’s 238.63. Lomror had also played a fine cameo of 13-ball 33 in the last game against Lucknow Super Giants but his efforts went in vain.

Meanwhile, RCB posted 183 runs on the board against RR after Virat Kohli scored his eighth IPL century (113 off 72) but the visitors failed to get a final kick in the death overs.

Irfan Pathan wrote on X, previously Twitter, “Mahipal Lomror plays on this pitch in the domestic cricket and he wasn’t part of the playing 11. He has shown some form too. Indian coaches need to get involve in the IPL so these basic mistakes don’t happen. This is just one example.”

On the other hand, RR cruised to their fourth win of the season after Jos Buttler scored an unbeaten 100 off just 58 balls as he batted at the top of his game. Furthermore, RR skipper Sanju Samson scored 69 off 42 balls to lead from the front.

After Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck, Samson and Buttler added a match-winning alliance of 148 runs as RCB’s bowling once again looked toothless.

RCB has managed a solitary win out of the five matches they have played. Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next take on Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday.