MUMBAI – In a move that has further polarized the Indian cricketing community, Sanjay Manjrekar has doubled down on his criticism of Virat Kohli’s decision to focus exclusively on ODI cricket. Following Kohli’s Test retirement in May 2025, Manjrekar took to social media on Saturday, January 10, 2026, to explain why he believes scoring centuries in the 50-over format is the “easiest” task for a modern top-order batter.
Manjrekar’s remarks come just as Kohli prepares for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand, and shortly after Joe Root and Steve Smith notched up masterclass centuries in the 2025-26 Ashes, highlighting the gap Kohli left behind in the red-ball format.
1. The “Top Three” Privilege
Manjrekar argued that the “desperation” of players to open or bat at No. 3 in ODIs—while often refusing to do so in Tests—is proof of the format’s relative ease.
- Lack of Attacking Fields: Manjrekar pointed out that unlike Test matches, where top-order batters face “four slips and a gully,” ODI openers face spread-out fields and defensive bowling.
- Survival vs. Scoring: “When a bowler is running in [in ODIs], he’s not really coming in to get you out. He’s just trying to make sure you don’t get 10-15 runs an over,” Manjrekar stated.
- The “Easy” Path: He noted that a good player can simply navigate the first 15 overs and then “rotate strike” to a century as the field spreads.
2. The Real “Greats”: Dhoni, Yuvraj, and Raina
In a surprising twist, Manjrekar shifted the definition of “ODI Greatness” away from top-order run-machines like Kohli and Rohit Sharma, placing it instead on middle-order finishers.
| Player | Batting Position | Why Manjrekar Values Them |
| MS Dhoni | 5, 6 | Handled high-pressure finishes with restricted overs. |
| Yuvraj Singh | 4, 5 | Batting when the ball is old and the field is spread. |
| Suresh Raina | 5, 6 | Accelerated the run rate without the luxury of the Powerplay. |
“If you are looking for a batting great, you won’t find them in one-day cricket, and especially at number one, two, and three. There’s just far too much going for people who bat in the top three.” — Sanjay Manjrekar
3. Kohli’s Test Exit: Unfinished Business?
The core of Manjrekar’s frustration stems from Kohli’s retirement after 123 Tests and 9,230 runs.
- Technical Flaws: Manjrekar reiterated that Kohli’s final series in Australia (190 runs in 9 innings) showed a recurring weakness—poking at deliveries outside off-stump—that the batter “walked away” from instead of fixing.
- The Comparison: Seeing Root and Smith continue to thrive at age 35+ in the Ashes has intensified the critique that Kohli chose “the easier path” to protect his legacy of 53 ODI centuries.
4. Social Media Reaction
The Instagram post has sparked a heated debate. While some fans agree that modern ODI rules (two new balls, field restrictions) favor batters, others point to Kohli’s 53 ODI centuries as a mark of unparalleled consistency and fitness that cannot be dismissed as “easy.”