Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Virat Kohli is not enjoying batting in India as much and like batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, he probably feels more comfortable playing away than in home conditions. Kohli’s form in red-ball cricket has again come under the scanner after the ace batter failed to score many runs against Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai.
Kohli began well in both innings but couldn’t go past the 20-run mark. He looked in touch but one bad shot and one bad decision ensured that he ended the Chennai Test with just 23 runs in his kitty.
While in the first innings, Kohli looked to reach out for a ball outside the off stump to be dismissed by Hasan Mahmud, in the second innings he was adjudged LBW and walked off, only to realise later that he had edged the ball from Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
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“He’s not enjoying batting in India as much. Like (Sachin) Tendulkar, I think he feels more at home away from home,” Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo’s YouTube channel.
“We saw in South Africa how well he played. He was by far India’s best batter. But it’s fine, better to get runs away from home than at home,” Manjrekar said.
Kohli was the second-highest run-scorer during India’s tour of South Africa, having scored 172 runs in four innings but with just one fifty-plus score to his name.
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Kohli was given out LBW in the second innings off Miraz and surprisingly, he didn’t opt for a review and walked off. Minutes later, the DRS showed that there was a clear spike when the ball passed the bat.
“Felt bad for Virat today. He didn’t think he had hit it. Just wanted to know from Gill if the ball was hitting stumps,” Manjrekar tweeted.
Kohli was seemingly in the nets during play on Day 3 while Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill were batting. It needs to be seen if he can put up some runs in Kanpur, the venue of the second Test. He has played just one Test at the venue, scoring 9 and 18 in two innings against New Zealand in 2016.