Former cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has shared his opinion on the test future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Manjrekar’s comments came after both veteran batters failed to help India avoid a heavy defeat in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) test against Australia in Melbourne on Monday.
The form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has been a cause of concern for the visitors in the ongoing test series against Australia. After hitting a hundred in Perth, Kohli has gone on to record scores of 7, 11, 3, 36 & 5. His natural tendency to drive the fuller ball pitched outside the off-stump has proved costly for him, as he has been caught behind in all his dismissals.
Meanwhile, Rohit’s flop show in test has put the Indian team under pressure. After missing the Perth test, he came back to lead the team and has so far registered scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 & 9. He returned back to his preferred opening position in Melbourne, but to no avail.
Despite his lackluster form, Manjrekar labeled Virat Kohli as a “great” test batter and thinks he deserves a longer rope in the format.
“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,” Sanjay Manjrekar said while speaking on Star Sports after the Boxing Day Test.
On the other hand, Sanjay Manjrekar feels the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar might make a call on Rohit Sharma’s test future soon.
“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.”
Sunil Gavaskar slams Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
The legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar attributed India’s loss to the lack of contribution from the top-order batters. He opined that the senior batters only had to bat out a few hours to save the test match.
On being asked about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s test future, Gavaskar said to India Today:
“It all depends on the selectors. The contributions that were expected have not come. It is the top-order which has to contribute, if the top-order is not contributing, why blame the lower-order.”
“The seniors have not really made the contribution that they should have, all that they had to do was bat out today and live to fight another day in Sydney,” he added.
The final test between India and Australia will take place from January 3 in Sydney, with the hosts currently leading by 2-1.
FAQs
How has Rohit Sharma fared in tests in 2024?
610 runs in 14 games @25.42
What is Virat Kohli’s highest test score in 2024?
100* against Australia in Perth
