rollingstoned Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Virat Kohli simply walked away from Tests instead of fixing his flaws: Manjrekar slams India star for prioritising ODIs Sanjay Manjrekar isn't a fan of Virat Kohli throwing in the towel in Tests and continuing to play ODIs, the ‘easy’ format. Virat Kohli left Test cricket without even completing 10000 runs in the format(AFP) Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed his disappointment at Virat Kohli’s decision to retire from Test cricket and continue playing ODIs, saying it upsets him knowing that while the likes of Joe Root and Steve Smith continue to plunder runs for their respective teams, India’s greatest red-ball captain chose to ‘walk away’ instead of working on his problem. Kohli, 37, retired from Test cricket last year after a woeful Test series in Australia, where he scored just 194 runs from 10 innings – 100 of which came in a single innings of the Perth Test – a decision that shocked one and all, given his love for the format. Despite being one of the Fab Four, Kohli, the living, breathing embodiment of Test cricket, retired with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85. The fact that Kohli couldn’t even complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket despite it being one of his biggest goals when he started is what stings the most. Kohli still, however, continues to pile a mountain of runs in ODIs, but Manjrekar isn’t a fan of prioritising one-day cricket over Tests. “Well, as Joe Root attains new heights in Test cricket, my mind goes to Virat Kohli. He's walked away from Tests, and it's unfortunate that in the five years that he struggled before retiring, that he didn't quite put his heart and soul into finding out the problems as to why he was averaging 31 for five years in Tests. That is for another time as to what he could have done. But I just feel sad that people like Joe Root and Steve Smith, Kane Williamson are really making a name for themselves in Test Cricket,” Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTJ8s39CHtO/?igsh=amQ0ODAzbjMyejc1 “It was okay, Virat Kohli just walked away from cricket, retired from all cricket. But that he's chosen to play one day cricket actually disappoints me more, because this is a format which for a top-order batter, I've said before as well, is the easiest format.” Kohli's struggles and how he slipped Between 2020 and 2025, Kohli’s struggles in Tests were no longer a secret. Once averaging 50 across formats before the Covid-19 pandemic, Kohli’s average dropped significantly as we went almost three years without a single century. But the fact that Kohli never worked on his Achilles' heel, the deliveries outside off-stump, repeatedly getting out to them – all nine dismissals in his last series Down Under – is what pinches Manjrekar the most. Once the leader of the Fab Four, Kohli slipped and could never regain ground, even as Root, Smith and Williamson continue to tear the house down with record-breaking innings and centuries. Consider this: Root just scored his 41st Test century and is closing in on Sachin Tendulkar's record for most Test runs in history. Smith continues to put in the hard yards in the ongoing Ashes. Kohli, meanwhile, carries the tag of a ‘former Test player’. Yes, Kohli is back playing his best format – the ODIs – having recently racked up 302 runs in three matches against South Africa and an unbeaten 74 in Australia before that. But it doesn't level up to the thrill of Test cricket or compare to the legacy Kohli carved for himself in whites. “The format that really tests you is first, obviously, Test Cricket, and T20 cricket has its different challenges. The other thing is because he's so fit, supremely fit, you feel even more that he could have maybe continued his fight, you know, to get back into form, even if he was left out of a series, he could have maybe gone down to first-class cricket, played in Australia, England, more matches in India, tried to make another comeback,” added Manjrekar. "That could have made me truly happy. Obviously, that's his call, his choice. But yeah, when Joe Root gets hundreds or gets runs, or Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, my mind goes to Virat Kohli with a sense of disappointment and a little bit of sadness, because he cared so much for Test Cricket, didn't he?”
vvvslaxman Posted January 6 Posted January 6 ODIs are where you can hide your flaws easily. Easiest format. So him choosing ODis over other formats is not surprising. He can bat time and also he can play away from body without worrying about getting caught in slips. Also new ball stops swinging after 3 or 4 overs. cricspirit, kepler37b and Manucrick 3
Ultimate_Game Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Good he retired from Tests else he would be averaging early 40s by now. He should've quit Test cricket in 2022 itself. He was done in 2020 and 2 years of failure should've been enough rope. But we kept him in the team for another 3 years so he could fail for 5 years and be the worst no. 4 across all the teams, including B'desh. He averaged around 30 in those 5 years and the 3 100s came on pattas or when the match was already decided. cricspirit, Nikola, Soorma Bhopali and 3 others 1 5
Lord Posted January 6 Posted January 6 he couldn't fix his flaws for 5 years. vvvslaxman, Laaloo and Ultimate_Game 3
vvvslaxman Posted January 6 Posted January 6 5 minutes ago, Lord said: he couldn't fix his flaws for 5 years. Manjrekar sometimes has these weird perspectives. Strike that. All the time. Not everyone has the ability to go back and fix their own issues. He should do a self-analysis of how he lost his spot to Ganguly and Dravid. Soorma Bhopali and Zero_Unit 2
Lord Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Just now, vvvslaxman said: Manjrekar sometimes has these weird perspectives. Strike that. All the time. Not everyone has the ability to go back and fix their own issues. He should do a self-analysis of how he lost his spot to Ganguly and Dravid. Also he completely skipped GG issue and that Rohit also retired. Sometimes I think he does it for attention Zero_Unit and vvvslaxman 1 1
IndianRenegade Posted January 6 Posted January 6 (edited) This take seems to be made for publicity/attention. Retirement, kind of means you feel you are done, don’t feel you are good enough, & this is after consistent failures over years. What is the point of claiming Virat ran away? He tried for years, he kept failing & realized he is done in test cricket. Edited January 6 by IndianRenegade Soorma Bhopali, G_B_ and nevada 2 1
G_B_ Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Best he walked away. Maybe he realised that this flaw was not fixable at his age. Has a young family. Probably wants to spend time with them. Lord and jf1gp_1 1 1
Lord Posted January 6 Posted January 6 52 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said: Are you creating these with AI?
Prabhdeep Singh Posted January 6 Posted January 6 (edited) Compare this to Rohit whose final 8 test matches were poor from September 2024 that is it. I heard rumours that Virat is going to cancel test retirement, If anyone who should cancel test retirement it is Rohit. Worked on fitness, 7 out of 9 tests remaining this WTC cycle is in Asia so he will do well. As he is going to play 2027 WC might as well make himself available for current WTC cycle which ends in 2027 also to stay in rhythm, then retire from all formats at the age of 40. The number 2, 3 and 6 seem still vacant to me in Test Cricket for India. Unfortunately it is all about optics/perspectives/perceptions rather than cold hard facts. Edited January 7 by Prabhdeep Singh Stan AF 1
Gollum Posted January 6 Posted January 6 Kohli had many limitations. No backfoot game, nothing behind the square. He overachieved through sheer willpower. Ultimately 3 formats(+RCB) overload and captaincy pressure.....took a huge mental toll on him. Shelf life for Indian captains is 5 years, usually downhill after that. Smith, Root, KW never had that much white ball workload, and even though they too were captains, that role is not as draining in SENA countries. Also, they had more well-rounded techniques for test cricket especially Root and KW. Smith anyway is weird, more of a freak, I still have no idea how he has achieved so much....his methods can't be emulated by others. rollingstoned and Manucrick 2
Gollum Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Kohli had an insane peak from 2014-15 to 2019-20. Had few flashes of brilliance on either side but also too many lows. Ultimately, flaws in his technique were too big to overcome unless he was mentally dialed in 120%. rollingstoned 1
vvvslaxman Posted January 7 Posted January 7 55 minutes ago, Lord said: Are you creating these with AI? yes Lord 1
pkmmamks Posted January 7 Posted January 7 how does manjrekar still be a name in Indian cricket. Gets acess to commentary etc. kya hai iske peeche
Trichromatic Posted January 7 Posted January 7 7 hours ago, Lord said: he couldn't fix his flaws for 5 years. There was nothing to fix. His issues existed from start. He was able to work around those during his peak with his hand eye coordination. He was always a limited batsman. BCCI screwed him up preparing **** pitches on regular basis. No batsman manages to do well regularly on difficult pitches. Usually players score bulk of their runs on flat pitches, score once in a while on difficult tracks and fail 3 out of 4 times. He had showed Sydney that he can still score when there isn't too much movement. I guess he would have been successful in England as well. BCCI needed to prepare decent pitches and he would have still averaged around 50 with 12-13k career runs. kosingh 1
Trichromatic Posted January 7 Posted January 7 Root scores most of his runs on pattas even with better technique. He got his 100 for first time in Aus and both of those 100 came in matches where Aus piled up 500. Same story in recent series with India. Got flat tracks and scored 2-3 centuries. Before that he travelled to NZ, when it was difficult to bat, Brook scored and Root failed. Eventually Root scored century when it was flat out there at wellington. https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-new-zealand-2024-25-1428550/new-zealand-vs-england-2nd-test-1428555/full-scorecard 262 v Pakistan on highway. He has kind of feasted on flat pitches and rarely looks England's best when it's difficult. Smith is only exception. Ultimate_Game 1
Gollum Posted January 7 Posted January 7 7 minutes ago, Trichromatic said: Root scores most of his runs on pattas even with better technique. He got his 100 for first time in Aus and both of those 100 came in matches where Aus piled up 500. Same story in recent series with India. Got flat tracks and scored 2-3 centuries. Before that he travelled to NZ, when it was difficult to bat, Brook scored and Root failed. Eventually Root scored century when it was flat out there at wellington. https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-in-new-zealand-2024-25-1428550/new-zealand-vs-england-2nd-test-1428555/full-scorecard 262 v Pakistan on highway. He has kind of feasted on flat pitches and rarely looks England's best when it's difficult. Smith is only exception. But Eng pitches were quite tough during Anderson-Broad era, which overlaps with most of Root's career. He made plenty of runs then as well, just that his conversion has become better post pandemic. I recall Root scoring big 100s in 2021 Lanka on rank turners.
Gollum Posted January 7 Posted January 7 2021 India tour of England, those 4 tests had tough pitches. Kohli, Pujara, Rahane, Pant, Jadeja failed miserably averaging 20-30, only Rohit and KL did well. No support for Root but he managed 600 runs in those 4 tests against Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Thakur. Eng pitches got flatter only from 2022.
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