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

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar blamed the Indian team management and particularly the batting coach for Virat Kohli’s slump in form in the longest format. The star India batter has struggled to deal with balls that have pitched outside the off-stump and maintained the fifth-sixth stump line and bowlers across the world have identified that and exploited his weakness post-Covid-19 pandemic.

Manjrekar pointed out that the batting coach should intervene and address Kohli’s issues immediately. He noted that the 36-year-old isn’t able to solve the problem by himself and expects the coaching unit to help the cricketer improve his technical skills. Notably, India doesn’t have a definite batting coach at the moment, as both Abhishek Nayar and Ryan ten Doeschate were hired as assistant coaches. Keeping that in mind, Manjrekar also noted that Kohli might need outside help to solve his issue. 

Also Read - Harsha Bhogle reveals Test team of the year; Bumrah captain, no Rohit-Kohli-Pant

“But that is not true where a modern-day great will find his own way out. If that was the case, then he would have. That is why I'm no longer focussing on Kohli's problem, but on the guy who was supposed to solve the problem, that is the batting coach. And if he can't address these chronic problems that some of our batters have had, and these are mostly technical battles. So it is pretty obvious to everyone that Kohli needs outside help because he, on his own, hasn't been able to solve it,” said Manjrekar on ESPNCricinfo.

Kohli started the ongoing Australia series on a good note, having scored a century in the first Test in Perth. However, he struggled to get going in Adelaide and Gabba, resulting in questions being asked again. India captain Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, was asked to address Kohli’s form at the press conference, but the 37-year-old highlighted that the cricketer would figure out the issue by himself. 

Notably, Kohli played 10 Test matches in 2024 and scored 376 runs at an average of 25.06, which is currently his second-lowest since his debut in 2011.