Abhinav Manohar

Abhinav Manohar is a hard-hitting lower middle-order batter who hails from Bangalore, Karnataka. Abhinav Manohar got picked to play for Karnataka as a 27-year-old in November 2021. Soon after, Abhinav’s moment of glory came when he was bought by Gujarat Titans at the IPL auction. There was a three-way bidding war between Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals for Abhinav Manhor. GT eventually were successful in securing his services as a finisher. Abhinav’s contract of 2.6 crore was 13 times his best price. Before Abhinav made his debut for Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he had a reputation of being a big-hitter in local level cricket. On his debut, he walked into bat with Karnataka struggling at 34/3 in quest of chasing 146 against Saurashtra. Abhinav batted with a lot of composure as well as flair and not only bailed his side out of trouble but took his side home in a tight final-over finish. His 49-ball 70-run knock that day consisted of four fours and six sixes. He scored 162 runs in 4 innings at a strike rate of 150 to cap off his maiden SMA T20 tournament.

Abhinav Manohar has been there with the Gujarat Titans for three seasons (2022-24) but hasn’t been able to do justice to his talent so far. He has shown glimpses of his prowess a a big-hitter but he needs to do more. The fact that Abhinav struck 52 sixes (the most) in 10 innings in the Maharaja T20 Trophy in the 2024 season augurs well for him ahead of the IPL mega auction. Abhinav’s ability to hit big sixes is a big-plus in the T20 format.