Virat Kohli is a man who never seems to be low on confidence, at least from the fans’ point of view. But, Sanjay Manjrekar feels the India Test skipper’s current lean patch is down to a dip in his self-confidence.
Though there’s no denying the talent, ability and greatness that Kohli possesses, Manjrekar sees lack of confidence as the only factor that is standing between the India Test skipper and his pursuit of a big knock.
“Virat Kohli is a great batter. He’s certainly out of form. It’s the first time I have seen – I saw this in the IPL as well – that he’s a bit low on confidence which I thought would never happen. That’s why they say ‘never say never’. We have seen that because he hasn’t scored runs, his self-confidence has dipped a bit,” Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo.
In the first Test against South Africa, Virat only scored 35 and 18 in the two innings. On both occasions, he was dismissed chasing deliveries way outside the off-stump. Many experts feel bowlers have been able to expose his weakness more than they were able to before.
The dismissals in the Centurion Test could’ve been avoided had Kohli not chased after those deliveries. But, Manjrekar is also confident of seeing the talismanic Indian batter coming out of this rut sooner rather than later considering the talent that he has.
“But he’s a great batter and when he’ll score runs, he’ll be back in form because he’ll keep scoring consistently. It’s completely possible that he’ll be back in form in this Test,” said Manjrekar.
