Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there is no need to panic following the twin retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, drawing parallels with how Indian cricket bounced back after the legendary “Fab Four” stepped away from the longest format.
Within the span of a week, two modern-day stalwarts– Kohli and Rohit have bid adieu to Test cricket, prompting concerns about India’s red-ball future.
Manjrekar drew comparison to the time when Indian cricket saw the exits of the “Fab Four” comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
“I know there’ll be a few fans concerned. There was a sense of panic when the fab four quit all at the same time, but guess what? A couple of years later, India was the number one Test team in the world,” Manjrekar said in an Instagram video he posted.
India had risen to the top of the ICC Test rankings soon after that transitional phase.
“So, as long as I believe in this very strongly, as long as the sport is popular in India and there are enough young players, youth, desperate to play for India, and there are thousands in India, which means anybody who sort of comes through that kind of a grind has to be quality talent,” said Manjrekar.
The 59-year-old also highlighted how the phase following the Fab Four’s retirement coincided with the emergence of a more potent bowling attack.
“It will take a bit of time, but let’s not panic. Remember what happened after Fab Four, the Indian bowling quality improved.
“The same could happen here as well. You’ll discover new stars and new bowlers, and India will continue to be one of the top teams in the world.” With veteran off spinner R Ashwin retiring form the format last year, India will be without its three most experienced players for the marquee-five match Test series in England, starting next month.
Manjrekar though did flag India’s overseas batting fragility.
“You need some time. Because in overseas conditions, batting is very important and that is where our current fragility lies.
“But guess what? There’s another way to look at this current Indian team, where Rohit and Virat Kohli were part of the Indian team. India lost 3-0 at home against New Zealand and lost poorly, badly in Australia as well. So guess what? With this team, we just have nothing to lose. All the best New India,” said Manjrekar.
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