Sanjay Manjrekar lashes out at batting coach for Virat Kohli’s ‘chronic’ outside off-side issue

Virat Kohli‘s decline in form in the longest format was attributed by former cricket player Sanjay Manjrekar on the Indian team’s management, namely the batting coach. Following the Covid-19 pandemic, bowlers from all over the world have recognised and taken advantage of the star Indian batsman’s inability to handle balls that have pitched outside the off-stump and maintained the fifth-sixth stump line.

The batting coach ought to step in and take care of Kohli’s problems right away, Sanjay Manjrekar noted. He stated that he wants the coaching unit to assist the cricket player in honing his technical skills because the 36-year-old is incapable of handling the issue on his own. It is noteworthy that Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate were both appointed as assistant coaches, hence India does not yet have a permanent batting coach.

Sanjay Manjrekar added that Kohli might require outside assistance to resolve his problem in light of this.

However, a modern-day great will figure out a method to get out of that situation on his own. If that were true, he would have. I am now concentrating on the batting coach, who was meant to be the solution to Kohli’s problem, rather than the player himself. Furthermore, these are primarily technical disputes, and he is unable to address the persistent issues that several of our batters have had. Since Kohli hasn’t been able to resolve the issue on his own, it is very clear to everyone that he needs outside assistance, Manjrekar added.

Kohli’s century in the opening Test in Perth gave him a strong start to the current Australia series. But he found it difficult to get going in Adelaide and Gabba, which prompted to further questions. When asked to comment on Kohli’s form during the press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma, 37, made it clear that the cricket player would resolve the matter on his own.

Notably, in 10 Test matches in 2024, Kohli amassed 376 runs at an average of 25.06, his second-lowest total since his 2011 debut.