T20 World Cup: Manjrekar urges Virat Kohli to bring 'earlier version of himself' on tough New York pitches

Mumbai, June 12

Ahead of India’s ICC T20 World Cup game against USA, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar urged Virat Kohli to tone down on his aggression and play a slightly conservative game at tough pitches in New York during the competition.

India will play the USA in their third Group A game of the T20 World Cup at the Nassau County International Stadium on Wednesday.

In their previous game, India had defeated Pakistan in a low-scoring thriller by six runs.

USA’s last game also saw them beat Pakistan in the Super Over after the match ended in a tie.

India is at the top of the group with two wins in two games and four points. The USA is in second place with the same win-loss record and four points, though their net run rate is inferior.

Virat, who is the leading run-scorer in the tournament history, has not had the best start to the tournament, with scores of just one and four runs against Ireland and Pakistan as an opener. Both times, he was dismissed while playing aggressively.

Virat has come to the tournament after a stupendous Indian Premier League season with the bat for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), where he scored 741 runs in 15 innings at 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69, with a century and five fifties.

Virat registered his highest-ever strike rate in his IPL career and was exceptional against spinners, taking a more attacking approach against them.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Manjrekar said that while Virat has changed his game after being criticised for his allegedly slow strike rate, the “old Virat” would have been better on tough pitches in New York, where run-scoring has been tough and batters have played conservatively.

“The problem with Virat Kohli is that there has been a lot of talk about his strike rate over the last two years, and he completely changed that during this IPL season. His strike rate had reached 150, although others had almost 200, but that is a different topic. He probably must have come to the T20 World Cup with that same mindset, but given the pitches, the old Virat Kohli would have been much better,” said Manjrekar.

“So, I feel someone should tell him to bring back that earlier version of himself and then change again when the pitches become flat,” he added.