Virat Kohli's Brother Takes Subtle Dig At Sanjay Manjrekar Over 'Easy Format' Comment

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar isn't someone who believes in filtering his opinions. Time and again, Manjrekar has shared his candid analysis as a pundit and also courted criticism for his verdicts. As the talismanic India star Virat Kohli continues to pile runs in the ODI format, Manjrekar suggested that the batter adopted the easy path by continuing to play 50-over cricket and hung up his boots in Tests, the format in which he was struggling the most. Virat's brother Vikas has given a fiery reply to Manjrekar as the India batter scored 93 in the first ODI against New Zealand on Sunday.

In a rather bold opinion, Manjrekar highlighted how easy it is for batters to play one-day cricket these days, especially at the top of the batting order.

"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 had said in an Instagram video.

"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-overs cricket or batting at No. 3, there's 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 get 10-15 runs an over," he added.

Virat's brother Vikas took a sharp swipe at Manjrekar as Kohli almost got his 85th international hundred.

"Such an easy format isn't it ... someone gave his gyaan a few days back... easier said than done...", he wrote on threads.

With two more games to go in the New Zealand series, Kohli would be keen to reach his 85th international ton on the next opportunity.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Virat Kohli Sanjay Manjrekar Cricket