Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar wants the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel to back Virat Kohli for the England tour despite his poor red-ball form. Manjrekar says the selectors and the team management should give a two-Test match guarantee to the veteran batter in the five-match series.
The cricket analyst said Kohli should play County Cricket before the England tour to prepare himself for the tough English conditions. Kohli could only accumulate 190 runs in five Test matches against Australia at an average of 23.75 and thus failed to deliver the goods Downunder.
Manjrekar said Kohli should be given a long rope if he performs well in the first two Test matches but he should be dropped if he doesn’t deliver.
“Virat Kohli should be [picked for England Test] in my mind. I think there should be a little better preparation for Virat Kohli. It can’t be a Ranji Trophy game here – has to be going out there well in time, playing some serious county cricket,” Manjrekar commented on ESPN Cricinfo.
“Just because it’s an iconic figure, you can’t have a repeat of what happened in Australia. You see Virat Kohli also not being able to overcome his problems. You can give a two-Test guarantee and see if there is any possibility of that tremendous mind of his making something different happen this time,” the 59-year-old added.
Meanwhile, Kohli has been averaging 30.73 since 2020 in his last 39 Test matches. Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra highlighted how Kohli’s numbers are not looking good.
Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Unfortunately, the numbers of the last five years are saying that whoever is talking is not about propaganda or agenda. You can see home or away, the numbers are saying that things aren’t looking good.
“Irfan (Pathan) said on Star Sports that if Virat Kohli hasn’t scored runs for five years, play a kid as he too would score runs at an average of 25. What you want to do is your choice but the selection is the selectors’ job,” he added.
Kohli will need to deliver more consistent performances in the red-ball format to keep his place in the team.
