‘Rohit Sharma's average would have dropped to 30s in England': Sanjay Manjrekar slams former India captain's Test record

Indian Express

a day ago

Rohit Sharma may have hung up his Test whites, but for former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, certain remarks about the Indian opener's record stir 'the bee in my bonnet.'
Manjrekar was referring to a statement made by Shubman Gill, who recently succeeded Rohit as India's new Test captain. During his first media interaction, Gill mentioned the pressures of attempting to fill the void left by the Test retirements of Rohit and Virat Kohli within a short span last month.
In a video shared on his Instagram account, Manjrekar said, 'Right recently, Shubman Gill made a statement, India's new test captain about how he is now going to feel the pressure of the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the England season, the Test series there. And it stirred up the bee in my bonnet, which has been there for a while. It's not so much about the statement, but the fact that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tend to get clubbed together.'
Manjrekar was displeased that Rohit and Kohli found equal importance in the set-up, when the latter has built a far superior Test record with nearly double the runs. While Rohit amassed 4301 runs in 67 Tests, averaging 40.57, Kohli finished as India's fourth-highest Test scorer at 9230 runs at 46.85 in 123 appearances.
A post shared by Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaysphotos)
'We even have a term for them, RoKo. I can understand it in white-ball cricket; there's some comparison, and they're comparable players. Although there's an argument there as well, but that's for a later time. When it comes to red-ball cricket, there's absolutely no comparison between the two. And I will never ever put them in the same bracket. Just to give you some numbers, so you don't have to take my word for it.'
'When it comes to SENA countries, the true test of a batter, Virat Kohli has got 12 hundreds. 30 Test 100s as well. Rohit Sharma in SENA countries, just the one against England at Oval 2021. He's played over 100 innings, just one hundred in SENA countries. And the average now is 40.'
Rohit and Kohli called it quits from the Test format on the back of their poorest season in whites. While Kohli failed to light up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia despite a century, Rohit withdrew himself from the final Test in Sydney in January.
'And I dare say, had he continued playing or had he gone to England, that average would have dropped in the 30s. I can't be absolutely sure, but that would be my educated guess. So, when it comes to Test cricket, please, red-ball cricket, Virat Kohli is in a different league when you compare him with Rohit Sharma. This comparison in red-ball cricket between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and putting them in the same bracket, I say, Roko, stop that,' remarked Manjrekar.