Sanjay Manjrekar explains 'Virat Kohli chose easiest format' remark: 'ODIs too much in favour of top three'

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that batting greats are not found in the top three of ODI cricket since it is loaded too much in their favour. Just a few days back, Manjrekar had also said that Virat Kohli chose to play the easiest format in the form of one-day cricket when his contemporaries were scoring centuries in Test cricket.

Kohli retired from Test cricket last year after a long patch of poor run and is currently only playing ODIs where he is still scoring runs for fun. However, Manjrekar believes runs from top order batters in the 50-over format do not carry as much weight.

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‘You won’t find batting greats in ODI cricket’

Manjrekar had earlier said that he was “pained” by the fact that Kohli chose to give up on Test cricket instead of overcoming his weaknesses. In his comments he had also said that Kohli was now playing the easiest format for top-order batters. On Friday, he further explained what was his reasoning behind calling ODIs an easy format.

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“The first advantage you get when you are opening in 50-overs cricket or batting at No. 3, there’s no four slips and a gully. And you know when a bowler is running in, he’s not really coming in to get you out. He’s just trying to make sure you don’t get 10-15 runs an over,” the cricketer-turned-broadcaster said on a video posted on his Instagram account.

“So if you are a good enough player, you just play out the first 10 to 15 overs. Then the field spreads out, and slowly, if you are a good rotator of strike, you get to a 100. The tough place to bat in one-day cricket is where Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, or MS Dhoni would bat, which is 4, 5, 6. Those were the tough positions,” said Manjrekar.

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“So if you are looking for a batting great, you won’t find them in one-day cricket, and especially at number one, two, and three. One day cricket is the last place I would look at to see my batting great of today because there’s just far too much going for people who bat in the top three in one day cricket,” he added.

Kohli will once again be back in international cricket at his favoured number three spot in the India vs New Zealand ODI series that starts January 11 in Vadodara.