Cricket analyst Sanjay Manjrekar has strongly cautioned against equating Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Test cricket, asserting that Kohli occupies an entirely different echelon. Manjrekar went so far as to suggest that Rohit’s Test average, which stood at 40.57 at the time of his retirement, would have likely plummeted into the 30s had he continued his career and participated in the upcoming five-Test tour of England.
Both Rohit and Kohli announced their retirements from Test cricket within days of each other in May. Rohit’s decision followed reports that BCCI selectors were considering removing him from captaincy and was preceded by his decision to drop himself during the Test tour of Australia. Kohli’s retirement, however, came as more of a surprise. The Delhi-born batsman concluded his Test career with more than double Rohit’s run tally and an impressive average of 46.8.
Manjrekar revealed that his frustration with the “RoKo” narrative – a fan-created moniker for the two cricketing stalwarts – was reignited by new skipper Shubman Gill’s recent press conference comments.
“Recently, Shubman Gill made a statement, India’s new test captain about how he is now going to feel the pressure of the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the England season, the Test series there. And it stirred up the bee in my bonnet, which has been there for a while. It’s not so much about the statement, but the fact that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tend to get clubbed together,” Manjrekar explained in an Instagram video.
He further elaborated, “We even have a term for them, RoKo. I can understand it in white-ball cricket; there’s some comparison, and they’re comparable players. Although there’s an argument there as well, but that’s for a later time. When it comes to red-ball cricket, there’s absolutely no comparison between the two. And I will never ever put them in the same bracket. Just to give you some numbers, so you don’t have to take my word for it.”
Do you agree with Sanjay Manjrekar?
