Harbhajan Singh criticises Manjrekar over Virat Kohli comment

Dubai: Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has strongly criticised Sanjay Manjrekar for his recent remarks about Indian batting icon Virat Kohli.

Manjrekar had suggested that Kohli opted for “the easiest format to play” by continuing in ODIs while moving away from Test cricket. The comment drew widespread criticism, including a sharp response from Kohli’s brother, Vikas.

Backing Kohli, Harbhajan labelled such views as unfair and dismissive of the effort needed to succeed at the top level, while firmly defending Kohli’s stature and consistency in international cricket.

“If it was so easy to score runs in any format, then everyone would have made it. Let’s just enjoy what people are doing. They are playing well, winning games, scoring runs, and taking wickets. That’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter who plays which format. Virat, whether he plays in one format or all formats, has been a fantastic player and a big time match winner for India,” Harbhajan said.

He also underlined Kohli’s impact on Indian cricket and his importance as a role model for aspiring players. “They inspire the next generation. Manjrekar has his own way of thinking. The way I see it is that Virat and these players have played a major role to take this game forward. Virat is an unbelievable player. Even today, if he plays Test cricket, he will be our main player,” he added.

Manjrekar’s remarks came amid Kohli’s impressive run in the ODI format. Known for his outspoken views, the former India batter argued that batting in ODIs has become considerably easier for top-order players. He elaborated on this perspective in an video on social media, comparing responsibilities across formats.

Manjrekar indicated that Kohli could’ve delved deeper to fix his problems in red-ball cricket while citing how England’s Joe Root has been setting new benchmarks in Tests.

“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, that 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. That is for another time as to what he could have done. But I just feel sad that people like Joe Root and Steve Smith, Kane Williamson are really making a name for themselves in Test Cricket,” Manjrekar had said.

“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.