Virat Kohli: The war inside the field in the Indian cricket corridors has now transformed into ‘social media war’ outside the field. Former Team India cricketer and famous commentator Sanjay Manjrekar is often in the news for his controversial statements. Once again Virat Kohli was his target. But Virat’s elder brother Vikas Kohli has not liked this thing of his.
Manjrekar’s ‘easy format’ comment
Sanjay Manjrekar had recently raised questions on Virat Kohli retiring from Test cricket and continuing to play only ODIs. According to Manjrekar, Virat’s Test average in the last 5 years was only 31 and he did not try to improve his technical shortcomings.
Giving the example of Joe Root, he said that while Root is touching new heights, Kohli has moved away from Tests. Manjrekar said, “It was fine that Virat would have quit cricket, but he chose to play only ODIs, which disappointed me. This is the easiest format for a top-order batsman.”
Vikas Kohli’s befitting reply
Virat’s brother Vikas Kohli addressed Manjrekar as ‘Mr Expert’ on the social media platform Threads and targeted him. Vikas wrote, “I wonder what suggestions ‘Mr Expert of Cricket’ has regarding the easy format. To do this one has to be on the field. Saying it is easy is one thing and showing it on the field is completely different.”
Vikas further indicated that it is very easy to give ‘knowledge’ by sitting outside, but when the rest of the batsmen of the team (Rohit, Shubman, Shreyas) are failing and Virat is playing a fighting inning of 124 runs in 108 balls, then calling it ‘easy’ is an insult to the player’s dedication.
Sanjay Manjrekar’s old connection with ‘controversies’
This is not the first time that Sanjay Manjrekar has been embroiled in some controversy. He has a history of conflicts with players. In 2019, he had called Jadeja a ‘bits and pieces’ player, to which Jadeja gave a strong reply. Manjrekar has also raised questions many times regarding Kohli’s captaincy and his batting technique. Recently he also commented on Rahul’s self-confidence, which was widely criticized.
