Updated 10 January 2026 at 13:28 IST
'Desperate To Bat In Top Three': Sanjay Manjrekar On 'Easiest Format' Remark After Comments On Virat Kohli Surrounds Him Storm Of Scrutiny
In his illustrious ODI career, Virat Kohli has played 308 matches for India and has scored 14557 runs. Kohli has scored 53 ton in ODIs with an average of 58.46 and with a strike rate of 93.66
Virat Kohli is gearing up to play the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. Prior to the start of the 2026 edition of the T20 World Cup, New Zealand will play eight white-ball games against India, comprising three ODIs and five T20Is. These eight matches will be India's final dress rehearsal heading into the T20 World Cup.
The first One Day International (ODI) of the series will be played on January 11, 2026, and it will witness the return of stalwarts and two former India captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
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Sanjay Manjrekar Clarifies His Comments On Virat Kohli
Ex-India skipper Sanjay Manjrekar recently faced a lot of flak for his comments on Virat Kohli and how unexpected it was of him to leave Test cricket while his contemporaries such as Joe Root and Steve Smith continue to score runs in Test cricket. Manjrekar had also added that ODI cricket is the easiest format of the game.
The star broadcaster and player was criticized heavily for his comments on Kohli, and he has now reiterated the reasons that made him label ODI cricket as the easiest format.
"A lot of people have asked me why I keep saying ODI cricket is easy for top-order batters. Go back a few years in Indian cricket and look at the guys who were opening for India for a long time in 50-over cricket. They were not very keen to open in Test cricket or bat in the top three. They were very happy to play at No. 4, 5, 6. But come ODIs, they were almost desperate to bat in the top three and open. Therein lies the answer as to why I believe it's easy for top-order batters," said Manjrekar.
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Virat Kohli Looks To Continue His Domination
With all sorts of questions around him and his ODI future, Virat Kohli has continued to remain tight-lipped on his ODI World Cup 2027 future. In his previous series against South Africa, Virat Kohli ticked all the right boxes and scored 2 hundreds. The ex-India skipper ended the series with 302 runs in three matches.
Published By : Jishu Bhattacharya
Published On: 10 January 2026 at 13:28 IST