Virat Kohli termed outside talks as complete nonsense.
Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar took to his Twitter handle and reacted to the Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s comment of ‘outside talks’ and said that the latter should learn from MS Dhoni and handle criticism with maturity.
After the thrilling T20I series between India and England, in which the hosts won 3-2, the focus now shifts on the three-match ODI series which is set to begin today (23rd March).
Addressing the press conference ahead of the first ODI at Pune Indian skipper Virat Kohli while reacting to the criticism over KL Rahul, who is going through a lean patch, said that a player never ‘forgets how to play' and just the mental aspect of the game and 'external factor' takes toll on him. He further termed outside talks as complete nonsense.
"When an individual is going through a tough phase - it's not like he forgets how to play, it's just that mental clarity isn't as good at the time - at that time if you know what things are being said and you're being told you're out of form, then you're bringing in another external factor into your system.
“It's a simple game: you have to watch the ball and react and hit the ball. You have to be in the moment and all this outside talk, to be very honest, is completely nonsense,” Virat Kohli said during virtual press conference.
Virat Kohli further said since the start of his career all the outside talks have been nonsense to him. He added that Team management is going to back players and give them a good mental space.
"From the first to the last day of my career, all this outside talk has been nonsense to me. Who says what and why about a player, what's the motive behind it, what's the thinking behind it, it's better that all that remains outside because we're not going to let it enter our system even in the future. We are going to back our players and try and give them a good mental space," he said.
However, a cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar while reacting to Virat Kohli’s comments said that the Indian skipper should from MS Dhoni and handle criticism with maturity.
"Outside talk which Virat calls nonsense is basically public reacting to a public performance. And it’s always been the same- Praise when you do well, critique when you don’t. Virat must learn to accept this age old reality with calmness & maturity. Just like Dhoni did," Sanjay Manjrekar Tweeted.
(India Today inputs)