Virat Kohli's struggles in Test cricket in 2024 persisted as he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings against New Zealand. Despite this setback, Kohli, who had moved himself up to No. 3 in the batting order in the absence of Shubman Gill, received praise for his decision.
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar commended Kohli for his willingness to sacrifice his usual No. 4 position, noting that it distinguished him from players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. Manjrekar stated that Tendulkar and Ganguly would never have relinquished their batting positions in Test matches.
"Hats off to Virat Kohli!," posted Manjrekar on social media platform X.
"Coming out to bat at no. 3 because the team needed it. Ganguly, Tendulkar were very keen to open in white ball cricket, but never wanted to go up the order in Tests," Manjrekar tweeted.
"That's a true champion right there for you," he added.
However, Manjrekar criticized the star batter for adopting an aggressive approach from the very first ball. He stated that this tactic has only worsened his recent performance issues.
Manjrekar subtly criticized Tendulkar and Ganguly by pointing out that they were reluctant to move up the batting order in Test cricket, despite having opened in ODI matches on numerous occasions.
Tendulkar, for instance, accumulated almost 85 per cent of his Test runs while batting at No. 4, with a mere 15 runs scored in the top three positions.
In contrast, Ganguly managed to score 752 out of his 7,212 Test runs at No. 3, but only mustered 11 runs as an opener. It is worth noting that Ganguly initially batted at No. 3 in his Test career, before relinquishing the position to Rahul Dravid.
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