Xtra Time Web Desk : Former Team India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has recently opened up brutally on why he doesn’t consider Virat Kohli as one of the greatest skippers in Indian Cricket.
Talking about the most successful Indian Test skipper, statistically, Manjrekar in an interview with News 18 said, “MS Dhoni is clearly one of India’s greatest captains. I judge captains generally on international cricket and also on ICC events. Because that’s when you are really tested. When you are playing bilateral cricket, you are going to the office and coming back. There is not much pressure there. But ICC events, that is where Dhoni has been tremendous. Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly and Virat Kohli. When you look at Kohli, there are a lot of things to like about him because he is somebody who led by example. The Wanderers Test match before this series, when they played on a treacherous pitch. India lost the series 2-0 but Kohli set an example as captain. He said that we want to win this despite a pitch that could have killed somebody. That kept India’s morale high. That is what you get with Virat Kohli, the never-say-die attitude. In the World Test Championship final India lost. But till the last minute India through Virat Kohli was still fighting to salvage the game. But finally, you’ve got to talk about the results. The results were not coming,”
Opening up about leadership qualities of Sourav Ganguly, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, the Mumbaikar added, “So when we talk about all-time greats, it would be very unfair to not count Dhoni in that. Kapil Dev at a time when there was an inferiority complex at the world level. Saurav Ganguly after the match-fixing era gave India some overseas wins. Sunil Gavaskar also. So these are all great leaders. You live in an age where there are a lot of platforms, so the hype is more. But Indian cricket didn’t start 10 years back. These are guys that I believe have been better captains than Virat Kohli who has been very good in his own right.”
Earlier on January 15, Virat Kohli stepped down as Team India’s most successful Test skipper, as he led his country to a record 40 Test wins out if the 68 matches that he has captained his team in.