Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar opened up on Virat Kohli's decision to retire from Tests. He said that if you look back a few years at Indian cricket, many players who opened in ODIs had previously been middle-order batters in Tests. Manjrekar added that in ODIs, bowlers usually don’t aim to get top-order batters out early; they focus more on restricting runs in the first few overs.
Earlier, after centuries, Joe Root and Steve Smith in the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Manjrekar expressed his sadness over Kohli leaving Tests to focus on the 50-over format. He noted that Kohli remains the leading century-maker in ODIs, with 53 hundreds.
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Kohli's Test career
Kohli retired from Test cricket in May 2025, after a dismal outing in Australia during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He finished his long and successful Test career having played 123 matches for India, scoring 9,230 runs, including 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries.
Manjrekar on Kohli's Test retirement
Manjrekar pointed out that Kohli managed just 190 runs in nine innings against Australia, often struggling against deliveries outside off stump. According to him, these difficulties highlighted Kohli’s challenges in adapting and contributed to his decision to retire from the longest format of the game.
“A lot of people have asked me why I keep saying ODIs are easy for top-order batters. Go back a few years in Indian cricket and look at the guys who were opening for India for a long time in 50-over cricket," Manjrekar said while speaking on his Instagram.
“Those batters were middle-order batters in Tests. They weren’t very keen to open in Tests or bat in the top three. They were very happy to play at No. 4, 5, 6," Manjrekar said.
“But come ODIs, they were almost desperate to bat in the top three and open. Therein lies the answer as to why I believe it is easy for top order batters, because everybody is queuing up to bat in the top three," Manjrekar added.
Virat Kohli's upcoming outing
Kohli, who already retired from Tests and T20Is, will now be seen featuring in the three-match ODI series against South Africa, which is scheduled to start from January 11.