‘No comparison between Rohit and Kohli’, Indian captain ‘looking down in doldrums’: Manjrekar hits the nail on its head

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said using the same yardstick while assessing Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s Test performances is unfair. The two star batters underwhelmed once again as India failed to survive on Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, losing the contest by 184 runs.

Rohit displayed good defence on the final day; however, Pat Cummins ended his 40-ball stay by dismissing the India captain for just 9. On the other hand, Virat Kohli once again perished after going after a delivery bowled outside off-stump. Kohli scored just 5.

Both Rohit and Kohli average a tad above 24 in Tests in 2024. While Rohit scored two centuries and two half-centuries this year, Kohli registered one ton and one fifty. The duo is being severely criticised for their performances in the longest format.

Manjrekar believes that Kohli deserves a longer rope than Rohit. However, he also questioned the role of the batting coach, as Kohli has repeatedly gotten out the same way.

“I must say there is no comparison between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as Test batters. Virat Kohli is right up there. He’s a great Test batter, and Rohit Sharma is a good Test batter. Rohit’s white-ball batting great,” Manjrekar said on Star Sports.

“So Virat Kohli obviously deserves a longer rope. It’s not so much about Virat Kohli. I want to know what the batting coach of India is doing. We can’t solve the obvious problem of such a fine player. Enough has been said about Virat Kohli, we just have to leave him alone,” he added.

‘Rohit has power to do what’s best for Indian cricket’

While assessing Rohit Sharma’s below-par performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Manjrekar said that the 37-year-old has the power to do what’s best for Indian cricket, saying he appears to be in the “doldrums’.

“It’s not really up to Rohit Sharma. If you look at how the protocol and the hierarchy of team selection is, the chairman of selectors, he has the decision to make. He has the power to do what’s best for Indian cricket, so it’s not so much about Rohit Sharma himself, you know, deciding what should be the future,” said Manjrekar.

“The chairman of the selector has that power. That’s with Rohit and he does look down in the doldrums. Virat Kohli is a different issue altogether,” he added.

After missing the Perth Test, Rohit has registered scores of 3,6,10,3 and 9 in the ongoing series against Australia. In five innings, the right-handed batter has managed 31 runs.

On the other hand, Kohli started the series on a good and positive note after hitting a century in Perth. However, the same old problem of fishing outside the off-stump returned in the next three Tests.