Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s struggles continued in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy as they fell for single-digit scores in India’s second innings of the Boxing Day Test against Australia at MCG on Monday (December 30).
While Kohli was dismissed for 5, Rohit fell for 9 as the visitors lost the match by 184 runs to concede a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After their recent failures, the calls for the retirement of both players have intensified.
Amid the outrage, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that it is unfair to use the same yardstick when assessing the performances of Kohli and Rohit.
According to Manjrekar, Kohli is a great batter in Test cricket and deserves a longer rope than the Indian captain.
While Kohli has played 122 Test matches so far, amassing 9,207 runs at an average of 47.21 with 30 hundreds, Rohit has accumulated 4,301 runs in 67 Tests at 40.57.
Kohli is also considered India's most successful Test captain, with 40 wins in 68 matches. He led the team to maiden Test series win on Australian soil in 2018-19 and also led the side 2-1 win in England in 2021 before the fifth Test was postponed due to COVID outbreak in the Indian camp.
"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. 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," Manjrekar said while speaking on Star Sports after the Boxing Day Test.
"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. 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.
Virat Kohli began the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with a second innings hundred (100*) at Perth, but he has amassed only 67 runs in his other six innings combined so far.
The age-old problem of fishing outside the off stump has led to Kohli’s downfall and it came back to haunt him on Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test at MCG.
The Indian stalwart chased a wide delivery from Mitchell Starc and perished for just 5 runs. He got a thick outside edge which flew to Usman Khawaja at first slip.
On the other hand, Rohit, who missed the series opener at Perth due to paternity leave, has scored 31 runs from five innings at an abysmal average of 6.20.
