Sanjay Manjrekar sheds light on Test future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, backs former to turn his form

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has backed Virat Kohli to turn his form in the Test format. Manjrekar reckons Kohli has a better chance of turning his form than Indian captain Rohit Sharma. 

While Kohli scored 190 runs in five Test matches at an average of 23.75 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar trophy, Rohit scored 31 runs in three Test matches at an average of 6.20. Rohit could only manage 619 runs in 14 Test matches in 2024 at an average of 24.76.

Manjrekar noted that Kohli pays a lot of importance to his preparation and he should be able to deliver the goods on the upcoming England tour.

Sanjay Manjrekar wrote in his column for Hindustan Times, “I will remain far more optimistic about Virat than Rohit, for starters because when it comes to Test cricket, Rohit is nowhere in the league of Virat. Also, Virat is more committed to preparation that will give him the best chance to succeed. He leaves no stone unturned to control the controllable, but that long standing weakness outside off unfortunately seems out of his control.”

On the other hand, Kohli and Rohit were able to deliver in the Champions Trophy. While Kohli scored 218 runs in five matches of the eight-team tournament, Rohit scored 180 runs in as many games. Rohit scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs in the final against New Zealand whereas Kohli scored 84 runs in the semifinal clash against Australia.

Rohit will play for Mumbai Indians in the upcoming IPL 2025 whereas Kohli will look to claim his first IPL title with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.