Indirect Dig At Sanjay Manjrekar? Shubman Gill Gives Blunt Take On 'Easiest Format' Claim

Recently, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar revisited Virat Kohli's decision to retire from Tests, after England star Joe Root smashed his 41st hundred in the format. Together with Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli formed the 'Fab 4' in the longest format. But Kohli is the only player from the quartet to have quit Test cricket. Manjrekar, in a video on his Instagram account, questioned Kohli's decision to quit Tests instead of fixing his flaws, while continuing to play the 'easiest format' - ODIs. That comment did not go down well with many.

India captain Shubman Gill was asked about the 'easiest format' take on ODIs ahead of the first India vs New Zealand ODI in Vadodara.

"Do you think ODI is the easiest of the three formats? I ask because a former cricketer has said so," a reporter asked Shubman Gill.

"I don't think any format is easy. The Indian cricket team hasn't won a World Cup since 2011, so if it was that easy, we would be winning the World Cup every second edition," Gill replied.

"It's easy to say that, but I don't think any format is easy. It requires a lot of resilience, a lot of persistence, and a lot of determination to be able to win big ICC tournaments."

Manjrekar said that it pains him to see Kohli 'giving up' on Test cricket and opting to play only ODIs. He added that the star batter failed to overcome his shortcomings, which could be the reason behind his decision to retire from Test cricket. In his latest comments, he doubled down on his remarks and said that he believed ODIs are the easiest format to play, as top-order batters end up scoring a lot of runs.

"A lot of people have asked me why I keep saying ODI cricket is easy for top-order batters. Go back a few years in Indian cricket and look at the guys who were opening for India for a long time in 50-over cricket. Those batters were middle-order batters in Test cricket. They were not very keen to open in Test cricket or bat in the top three. They were very happy to play at No. 4, 5, 6," Manjrekar said on Instagram.

"But come one-day cricket, they were almost desperate to bat in the top three and open. Therein lies the answer as to why I believe it's easy for top-order batters, because everybody is queuing up to bat in the top three. The first advantage you get when you are opening in 50-over cricket or batting at No. 3 is that there are no four slips and a gully. And you know when a bowler is running in, he's not really coming in to get you out. He's just trying to make sure you don't score 10-15 runs an over," he added.

Topics mentioned in this article

Shubman Gill Sanjay Manjrekar India Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team Virat Kohli Cricket