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Sanjay Manjrekar thinks Virat Kohli is a great Test batter going through a bad patch, while Rohit Sharma ‘looks down in the doldrums’.
Rohit Sharma (left) and Virat Kohli (BCCI Photo)
Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wants ‘great’ Virat Kohli and ‘good’ Rohit Sharma to be treated differently for their inconsistent form. Manjrekar said Kohli deserves a ‘longer rope’ and the focus should be on fixing his batting chink, while adding that the chairman of selectors — Ajit Agarkar — needs to make a call on what’s best for Indian cricket.
Rohit and Kohli got out for nine and five respectively in the chase of 340 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the fourth Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While Rohit has a best score of ten from five innings in the series, Kohli has been unable to rectify his weakness against full balls outside off, despite being India’s fourth-highest run-scorer.
“I must say there is no comparison between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as Test batters,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports. “Virat Kohli is right up there. He’s a great Test batter and Rohit Sharma is a good Test batter. Rohit’s white-ball batting was great. So Virat Kohli obviously deserves a longer rope.”
“It’s not really up to Rohit Sharma. If you look at how the protocol and the hierarchy of team selection, the chairman of selectors, has the decision to make. He has the power to do what’s best for Indian cricket, so it’s not so much about Rohit Sharma himself, you know, deciding what should be the future. The chairman of the selector has that power. That’s with Rohit and he does look down in the doldrums. Virat Kohli is a different issue altogether,” Manjrekar added.
Manjrekar directly questioned India’s new batting coach, Abhishek Nayar, for failing to correct the most obvious flaw in Kohli’s batting.
“It’s not so much about Virat Kohli. I want to know what the batting coach of India is doing. We can’t solve the obvious problem of such a fine player,” he said “… Enough has been said about Virat. He’s a fine player going through a tough phase. We need to leave him alone and let him work through his issues. This isn’t just about Kohli’s form; it’s also a question of how the team management and batting coach are addressing these problems,” he added.
India are behind 2-1 in the series. The final Test will be played between January 3-7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)
