Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar heaped praise on Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli for his brilliant batting against South Africa in the ongoing two-match test series against South Africa. The 35-year-old put up a brave effort for the team, scoring 46 runs in the first innings.
On the first day of the second Test match in Cape Town, Virat Kohli appeared to be the best batter from both sides as he applied himself to make an impact for India with the bat. In the second session of the day, Kohli came out to bat and seemed like the most at ease batter of them on a surface with unpredictable bounce before falling short of the well-deserved half-century.
Speaking on Star Sports, Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Virat Kohli has finally found his groove in the South African soul after a disastrous performance in the 2021/22 series, where he struggled to get going for his team after stepping down from Indian captaincy in all three formats of the game.
“That is Virat Kohli being Virat Kohli. And I think the last tour to South Africa Virat Kohli was not batting like Virat Kohli. But, I mean, just imagine he ended the series with a strike rate of 34 which is, you know, so there was a lot going on in his mind.
“In this series, he’s looked good, he looked decisive. So this is Virat Kohli being Virat Kohli, just clearer in mind,” Sanjay Manjrekar said.
Virat Kohli had a disastrous series in South Africa in 2021/22. However, Kohli batted brilliantly in the first Test of the ongoing series. The Ace Indian batter appeared to be on his way to a century in the second innings of the first Test, but he ran out of partners at the other end. Kohli scored an important 46 runs in the second Test, hitting six boundaries and one six.
The Men in Blue endured an astonishing collapse in the second game, falling from 153/4 in the 34th over to being bowled out for the same score in the 35th. South African pacers Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada blew away the Indian team, who lost their final six wickets without scoring a single run.
India lost six wickets without scoring a single run for the first time in Test cricket history. India’s historic defeat occurred immediately after Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was removed. Following Rahul’s dismissal, India lost the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna.