Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar backs Virat Kohli and suggests the star batter to play County Championship to regain form before the Test series in England.
The so-called run machine of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, has struggled to score decent runs in recent times. His slump in the form greatly affects the Indian cricket team directly.
Even in the recently concluded BGT 2024-25 Virat scored just 190 runs at an average of 23.75. His poor contribution with the bat becomes one of the many reasons for India’s 3-1 defeat.
Despite his lean patch, Virat Kohli was added to the India squad for Champions Trophy 2025. Though many cricket experts and former cricketers gave their point of view advice to Virat Kohli, now Sanjay Manjrekar threw his suggestion to the star batter to improvise his game in the longest format of the game.
“Kohli needs to play a lot of red-ball cricket. The first Test in England is in June, while the County Championship begins in April. He could join a county team, like Pujara did, and gain valuable match practice.
India can then evaluate his performance in the initial Test matches. If there are positive signs, he can continue. But the last thing you want is Kohli going there and struggling, as we’ve seen before. That wouldn’t be good for Indian cricket. Playing County cricket could be a very sensible move for him,” Manjrekar said.
Sanjay Bangar widely praised Kohli’s fitness and believes that the right-hander will continue to play at the highest level.
“I’m still backing him. Even at 36 (years old), he’s as fit as ever. His fitness levels are remarkable, and I believe he can continue playing at the highest level,” Bangar said.
India will tour to England to play five tests in June – August this year with the first match set to be played between June 20 and 24 in Headingley, Leeds.
