Former Indian cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar disagreed with captain Rohit Sharma’s statement about Virat Kohli’s form in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series as well. Sanjay Manjrekar also said that Rohit Sharma had to make a public statement to avoid adding pressure on Virat Kohli as well.
Virat Kohli’s struggle against deliveries outside the off-stump has been constant and he managed only 126 runs in five innings at an average of 31.50 as well.
“You only said he is a modern-day great. Modern-day greats will figure out their way or the path (to overcome issues),” Rohit told reporters.
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Sanjay Manjrekar disagreed with Rohit Sharma’s statement about Virat Kohli’s form, claiming it a “flawed statement.”
“Actually, that’s a flawed statement. And he has to say it. Let’s understand a captain cannot be going out there and putting further pressure on the batter. So he has said that thing that he has to say in a press conference. But obviously, from deep within, cricketers think differently. I was part of that system as well. We couldn’t actually speak our minds,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
Sanjay Manjrekar also said that modern-day greats like Virat Kohli failed to figure out their issues on their own. He again said that if that were true, Virat Kohli would have already resolved his problems by now. Manjrekar added that the batting coach should address these technical issues.
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“But that’s not true where a modern-day great will find his own way out. If that were the case, he would have found his way out. And that is why I’m no more focusing on Virat Kohli’s problem but more on the guy who’s supposed to solve those problems. And that’s the batting coach,” Manjrekar added.
“And if he can’t address these chronic problems that some of our batters have had, and these are mostly technical battles temperamentally, or if there is a mental issue, that’s a slightly more difficult thing to resolve, but technical issues, if he has no input or if he can’t make a difference, you’ve got to start looking at the role of the batting coach. So it is, I think, pretty obvious for everyone that Virat Kohli needs outside help because he on his own has not been able to solve that technical problem of his,” he concluded.
