Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has come down heavily on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for their consistent failures in BGT 2024-25. Reacting to their dismissals on the fifth day of the Boxing Day Test, Manjrekar said this KohliHis all-time greatness could be questioned while Rohit played an unforgiving knock.
Team India lost by 184 runs in the fourth Test of the five-match series in Australia on Monday, December 30. Chasing 340, the visitors were bowled out for 155 in 79.1 overs. Rohit (9) was caught in the gully, trying to hit Pat Cummins. Kohli (5) perished again chasing a wide ball outside the off stump from Mitchell Starc.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo after India’s disappointing batting, Manjrekar he questioned the shot selection of both the Indian senior batsmen. He commented:
“Rohit Sharma, the shot he played after playing so well, I don’t think there’s any excuse for that. It has to be seen as a mistake. For Virat Kohli to keep getting out like this makes you doubt his all-time greatness because simply it’s getting a little too much.”
After India lost three wickets for 33 runs, Yashasvi Jaiswal (84) and Rishabh Pant (30) lifted the visitors with a fourth-wicket stand of 88. However, the latter perished to part-time spinner Travis Head, making a mistake trying to pull. While Pant came under a lot of criticism for his choice of shot, Manjrekar wondered if he would India tried to hunt the target from the outside. The 59-year-old said:
“Regarding Pant, I just wonder, in that last session, because India had so many wickets in hand, whether there was any talk. In the press conference, Rohit Sharma alluded to that. With the wicket in hand, they thought they could try Pant there and see if things happen – there could be some miraculous recovery, if not we could play for a draw.”
India’s batting fell apart after Pant’s departure as they went from 121-4 to 155 all out. For Australia, captain Cummins and pacer Scott Boland claimed three wickets each, while off-spinner Nathan Lyon claimed two.
Kohli, Rohit’s stats in BGT 2024-25
Kohli has so far managed just 167 runs in seven innings in BGT 2024-25, at an average of 27.83. He scored a hundred in the second innings of the Perth Test, but apart from that he did not make a valuable contribution. He reached 36 in the first innings in Melbourne, but Jaiswal’s run-out seemed to shake him and he disappeared soon after, again playing a loose shot outside off.
Rohitwho missed the first test, managed just 31 runs in five innings at a poor average of 6.20, with a best of 10. He didn’t look in any batting rhythm in the three test matches he played in since.
Edited by Renin Wilben Albert
