File image of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.© X (Twitter)
Virat Kohli's poor Test form in 2024 continued, as he got out for a duck in the first innings against New Zealand. In spite of that, Kohli - who promoted himself to No. 3 due to Shubman Gill's absence - got plaudits for his decision. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar hailed Kohli's decision to sacrifice his usual No. 4 slot, claiming that it set him apart from former players like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, stating that the latter two would never want to give up their batting position in Tests.
"Hats off to Virat Kohli!," posted Manjrekar on social media platform X.
Hats off to Virat Kohli!
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 17, 2024
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
"Coming out to bat at no. 3 because 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," Manjrekar tweeted.
"That's a true champion right there for you," he added.
However, Manjrekar did criticise the star batter for taking an aggressive approach from the very first ball and said that the tactic has "compounded his problems" in the recent past.
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. #INDvNZ
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 17, 2024
Is Manjrekar correct?
Manjrekar lay a subtle criticism on Tendulkar and Ganguly in emphasising that they did not want to go up the order in Test cricket, despite opening the batting numerous times in ODI cricket.
But how true is his claim?
Tendulkar scored nearly 85% of his Test runs at No. 4, scoring a grand total of only 15 runs in any of the top three positions in the order.
On the other hand, Ganguly has 752 of his 7,212 Test runs at No. 3, while only 11 runs as an opener. It must be remembered that Ganguly would bat at No. 3 earlier in his Test career, before Rahul Dravid made the position his own.