Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar stated that it is unfair to use the same yardstick when assessing the performances of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, amid calls for the retirement of both players following their failures in the Boxing Day Test.
Manjrekar believes Kohli is a great batter in Test cricket and deserves a longer rope than his captain. Manjrekar was addressing discussions about the futures of the two veteran cricketers after they failed to perform when the team needed them most during the final innings of the fourth Test in Melbourne on Monday, December 30.
While Virat Kohli has played 122 Test matches, scoring 9,207 runs with 30 centuries, Rohit Sharma has accumulated 4,302 runs in 67 Tests. Kohli is widely regarded as a modern-day great in Test cricket, whereas Rohit has flirted with Test stardom for a few years but will ultimately be remembered as a batsman who never matched his white-ball legacy.
Kohli is also India’s most successful Test captain, having led the team to an historic overseas series win in Australia, whereas Rohit Sharma’s captaincy has come under scrutiny after a series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand and losses in the Pink-ball Test and Boxing Day Test Down Under.
“I must say there is no comparison between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as Test batters. 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 great. So Virat Kohli obviously deserves a longer rope. 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. Enough has been said about Virat Kohli, we just have to leave him alone,” Sanjay Manjrekar said while speaking on Star Sports after the Boxing Day Test.
Meanwhile, Rohit admitted that both his batting form and leadership have not met expectations but refrained from making any definitive statements about his future in the Test team. Facing tough questions during the press conference following India’s loss in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Rohit addressed the team’s inability to secure a draw on the final day.
“It’s not really up to Rohit Sharma. If you look at how the protocol and the hierarchy of team selection is, the chairman of selectors, he 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.
