Sanjay Manjrekar Unhappy With Virat Kohli’s Test Retirement

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar criticised Virat Kohli’s Test retirement, questioning his decision to continue in ODIs after a poor Australia series.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has slammed Virat Kohli’s test retirement while continuing in ODIs. Manjrekar said the choice was difficult to accept, especially as leading batters such as Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson continue in the longest format.

Kohli retired from Tests last year after a difficult series in Australia, where he scored 194 runs from 10 innings. He ended his Test career with 9,230 runs in 123 matches at an average of 46.85. Manjrekar feels Kohli could have worked through his flaws instead of leaving the format. He also expressed concern that prioritising ODIs over Tests reduces the value of red-ball cricket.

“Well, as Joe Root attains new heights in Test cricket, my mind goes to Virat Kohli. He’s walked away from Tests, and it’s unfortunate that in the five years that he struggled before retiring, that he didn’t quite put his heart and soul into finding out the problems as to why he was averaging 31 for five years in Tests. That is for another time as to what he could have done. But I just feel sad that people like Joe Root and Steve Smith, Kane Williamson are really making a name for themselves in Test Cricket,” Manjrekar wrote in a post on his Instagram handle.

“It was okay, Virat Kohli just walked away from cricket, retired from all cricket. But that he’s chosen to play one day cricket actually disappoints me more, because this is a format which for a top-order batter, I’ve said before as well, is the easiest format,” he added.

Virat Kohli’s Test Numbers Decline After 2020

Notably, Kohli’s average had dropped sharply between 2020 and 2025, after having hovered near 50 before the pandemic. He went almost three years without a Test century.

Manjrekar feels Kohli failed to address his flaws outside the off stump, which led to repeated dismissals. All nine of Kohli’s outs in his final Australia series came similarly. He then noted that Kohli slipped behind his Fab Four peers. Joe Root, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson continue to dominate Test cricket.

“The format that really tests you is first, obviously, Test Cricket, and T20 cricket has its different challenges. The other thing is because he’s so fit, supremely fit, you feel even more that he could have maybe continued his fight, you know, to get back into form, even if he was left out of a series, he could have maybe gone down to first-class cricket, played in Australia, England, more matches in India, tried to make another comeback,” he said.

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“That could have made me truly happy. Obviously, that’s his call, his choice. But yeah, when Joe Root gets hundreds or gets runs, or Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, my mind goes to Virat Kohli with a sense of disappointment and a little bit of sadness, because he cared so much for Test Cricket, didn’t he?” Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.