“This method is making life a little more difficult for Kohli” - Manjrekar wants Indian captain to reassess batting strategy 

Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Virat Kohli must have a relook at his current batting method, which relies heavily on front-foot play. According to Manjrekar, the Indian captain’s batting style is forcing him to be a lot more defensive than usual.

Returning to the Indian side after missing the second Test due to upper back spasms, Kohli top-scored with 79 in India’s first-innings total of 223 in Cape Town on Tuesday. The 33-year-old faced 201 deliveries and hit 12 fours and a six during the knock. His fifty came off 158 deliveries, his second slowest in Tests.

Analysing Kohli’s defiant innings, Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo that the Indian captain needs to realsze what he is missing out on, observing:

“I think he has got to look at this method of scoring runs. I don’t believe in this thing of ‘who tells Virat Kohli anything about how he should bat. He is one of the all-time greats’. Roger Federer has a coach who travels with him, keeps telling him about things he needs to improve on. Every sportsman needs some kind of guide. And I think this method is making life a little more difficult for Kohli.”

The former India batter said that had Kohli batted positively like the batter of old, he could have reached three figures on Tuesday, elaborating:

“Kohli has other shots as well. We are saying he ran out of partners and hence missed a hundred. But the Virat Kohli of old, with all the shots that he used to play, would have got a 130 in the same number of balls."

"Who better than Rahul David to quietly start suggesting to Virat Kohli whether he would want to look at some of his earlier tapes? How he used to score more freely and whether he wants to have a relook at this front foot commitment no matter what.”

While not agreeing with the Indian captain’s approach, Manjrekar hailed Kohli’s resilience, in the backdrop of the intense scrutiny he has been under. The 56-year-old said in praise of the No. 4 batter:

“Hats off to Virat Kohli. He is coming out of a lean patch. Wickets getting lost at the other end. The innings that you saw was all about mental toughness. It was just him grinding runs away. Had he not run out of partners, we would have seen Virat Kohli grind a hundred. And that is the sign of a class player.”

Despite Kohli’s determined 79, India failed to post a decent first-innings total on the board. They were bowled out for 223 in 77.3 overs.

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“It’s a unit not at its best health” - Sanjay Manjrekar on India’s batting woes

Even though India faltered rather disappointingly on Day 1 in Cape Town, Manjrekar refused to criticise the batting line-up. He put India’s batting collapse down to a mix of poor form and ability issues, saying:

“Not going to criticise Indian batters. Didn’t find anyone playing a bad shot or being casual or too adventurous. Even Pant got out in quite orthodox fashion! This Indian batting line-up is carrying a lot of batters that are out of form."

"Mayank Agarwal is a problem. He got out again with hard hands outside the off stump, but you can’t say that he played a bad shot. But he’s short of confidence. Pujara, Rahane, Pant - it’s a batting unit not at its best health.”

The cricketer-turned-analyst concluded:

“With this kind of batting line-up, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to put South Africa in and make life easier for those batters who are searching for self-confidence.”

Responding to India’s first-innings total of 223, South Africa ended Day 1 on 17 for 1. Jasprit Bumrah sent back Proteas captain Dean Elgar for 3.