Sanjay Manjrekar praises Virat Kohli for his batting in Tests against South Africa

Sanjay Manjrekar praised the class of Virat Kohli in the recently concluded Test series against SA. The former Indian batter thanked Virat for saving India from difficult situations that helped the team to be in the contest every time he batted. The former Indian cricketer felt that Virat would play the longest format of the game for a long time after the struggles in the recent past.

“Virat Kohli will no doubt play (Test cricket) as long as possible and thank god for India, we have a Virat Kohli,” said Manjrekar. Virat was brilliant with the bat in the series against South Africa. In 4 innings, the star batter scored 172 runs at an average of 43.00, including a fifty to his name. These are great numbers in conditions that are difficult to bat. Manjrekar praised Virat for the same.

More importantly, Virat was consistent in all the innings where it needed him to deliver. No batter could replicate it in the series. In the first Test, Virat scored 38 runs in the first innings and 76 runs in the second innings. In the second Test, Virat scored 46 and 12 runs. It was a good way to show what the star batter is capable of doing in the conditions that are alien to him.

‘There’s a big distance between him and the next best Test batter in India’ – Sanjay Manjrekar

Manjrekar added that Virat was head and shoulders above all the batters from India. Sanjay felt that Virat displayed incredible skills to bat in challenging conditions. Sanjay added that there was a huge difference between the numbers of the second-best batter to Virat. He felt that Virat is currently the best batter for India until Rishabh Pant returns.

“He showed on this trip the kind of challenges that batters face that there’s a big distance between him and the next best Test batter in India at least until Rishabh Pant is back,” said Manjrekar while praising Virat. Manjrekar hoped Virat to continue his performances in the upcoming series against England and later through the year against other major teams.