Sanjay Manjrekar Hints At Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir Rift: "Look At Your Record In Last 5 Years"

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels batting maestro Virat Kohli does not see eye to eye with head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar. Manjrekar's remark comes after Kohli vented his frustration over having to prove a point every time he puts on the Indian jersey. Speaking on Sportstar's Inside Edge podcast, Manjrekar suggested that Kohli shares an uneasy relationship with the current management, highlighting that the environment the former India captain referred to was indeed the coach and selector duo.

"Environment. Now, it's important because I don't think anybody will be looking to read between the lines here. So I might as well be the bad guy here. So, environment, what is he trying to say? It's very easy to see. When he was with Ravi Shastri as captain and when he was a player as well, Ravi Shastri was right behind him, motivating him and backing him no matter what, a bit too much. It changed. Rahul Dravid left, Gautam Gambhir came in. So that's the environment that he's talking about, where it changed and he may not have felt as comfortable as he did before. A certain chairman of selectors also came in, a guy who has his own view, and is a very self-respecting, strong individual. His plans for Indian cricket differ from those of the selectors previously. So that is the environment he is talking about," said Manjrekar.

Manjrekar also pointed out that while it is completely okay if Kohli feels the way he does, his slump in Test cricket over the last five years cannot be overlooked.

"It happens to all of us when we are coming to the end of our careers, we start blaming a lot of other things for a problem that lies within. All Virat has to do. Forget about the environment, forget about who wants you out or who doesn't. Just look at your record in the last 5 years in Test cricket. Do you deserve to have an average of 31 in five years at the Test level? So we're just failing, and you got a long rope as you deserve to get, and in Indian cricket and culture, you get the longest rope possible," he added.

Ever since Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket, following India's defeat to Australia Down Under, there have been rumours of a rift between him and Gambhir-Agarkar.

While Kohli only remains active for India in ODIs, there is a lot of uncertainty over his participation in next year's World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Featured Video Of The Day

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Ajit Agarkar Gautam Gambhir Sanjay Manjrekar Cricket