“Hats off to Virat…”: Sanjay Manjarekar makes yet another controversial statement amidst India’s 1st innings debacle in Bengaluru

New Delhi: Former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjarekar has once again found himself embroiled in a controversy while comparing Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The former Indian cricketer praised Virat Kohli for coming to bat at three in the absence of Shubman Gill. Gill was ruled out of the first Test against New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru due to a stiffness in the neck.

Hats off to Virat Kohli!
Coming out to bat at no 3 bcoz the team needed it.
Ganguly, Tendulkar were very keen to open in white ball cricket, but never wanted to go up the order in Tests.
That’s a true champion right there for you! Virat. 👏👏👏#INDvNZ

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 17, 2024

Furthermore, Manjarekar also said in his post:

Have said this before will say it again. Virat has compounded his problems by wanting to be on the front foot to every ball. No matter the length. Today’s dismissal ball could have been comfortably tackled off the back foot

Tendulkar and Ganguly played iconic roles for India and are true legends, but they weren’t relevant to this conversation. You bringing them up unnecessarily. Let’s stay focused on the current match!

— Jabbar Chaudhary (@Jabbar_Ch_) October 17, 2024

Get Your Facts Right
Sourav Ganguly @SGanguly99 Played no 3 position in test matches when the team required .
3 innings
161 runs
avg 53.7
Highest score 136
1 century
25 fours
1 six#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/FHWZAT578a

— AllRounder Analyyst (@AllAnalyysstt) October 17, 2024

India’s ‘BENGALURU’ nightmare!

Meanwhile, India had a horrendous experience in Bangalore as the men in Blue were dismissed for 46 runs within a span of 31.2 overs. The Asian giants registered an unwanted record, slipping to their third-owest total in Test cricket history. It was also India’s lowest Test total at home.

For the Kiwis, pacers William O’Rourke and Matt Henry ripped apart the entire batting lineup. India paid the price for opting to bat under grey skies and on a pitch that remained under the covers for the good part of the last three days due to rain in the city. India’s batsmen were not able to judge the swing and seam movement of the pitch under lights and.