Sanjay Manjrekar has revisited Virat Kohli's decision to step away from Test cricket, expressing renewed disappointment after witnessing Joe Root notch
up his 41st Test century.
Root's landmark innings once again brought the spotlight onto the much-discussed 'Fab Four' era, featuring Root, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Kohli - a group that defined modern-day Test batting. Among them, Kohli is now the only one to have walked away from the longest format.
In a video shared on Instagram, Manjrekar reflected on Kohli's Test retirement and admitted that the timing and context of the decision continue to trouble him. "Well, as Joe Root attains new heights in Test cricket, my mind goes to Virat Kohli. He's walked away from Tests, and it's unfortunate that in the five years that he struggled before retiring, he didn't quite put his heart and soul into finding out the problems as to why he was averaging 31 for five years in Tests," Manjrekar said.
Manjrekar clarified that his concern was not about Kohli choosing to retire, but about doing so selectively. "It was okay, Virat Kohli just walked away from cricket, retired from all cricket. But that he's chosen to play one-day cricket actually disappoints me more, because this is a format which, for a top-order batter, I've said before as well, is the easiest format," he added.
The former batter reiterated his belief that Test cricket remains the ultimate measure of a player's skill and resilience. "The format that really tests you is first, obviously, Test Cricket, and T20 cricket has its different challenges," Manjrekar said.
He also pointed to Kohli's elite fitness levels as a reason why a comeback always seemed possible. "Because he's so fit, supremely fit, you feel even more that he could have maybe continued his fight, you know, to get back into form. Even if he was left out of a series, he could have maybe gone down to first-class cricket, played in Australia, England, more matches in India, tried to make another comeback," he remarked.
Manjrekar concluded by admitting that every milestone achieved by Root, Smith or Williamson now evokes a sense of loss. "When Joe Root gets hundreds or gets runs, or Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, my mind goes to Virat Kohli with a sense of disappointment and a little bit of sadness, because he cared so much for Test Cricket, didn't he?"
