Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t play well in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, leading India to lose the Test series against Australia for the first time in 10 years. Fans and experts believe that both players should return to domestic cricket, like the Ranji Trophy, to regain their form since they haven’t played there in a long time.
After the series, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar shared his thoughts on the “icon culture” in Indian cricket. He explained how this culture can be harmful to the team. He believes that when star players perform poorly, it affects everyone else, and this has happened before, like during the 2011-2012 season when India lost all four tests to England and Australia.
Kohli only scored 190 runs in 9 innings, while Rohit had a tough time with just 31 runs in 5 innings. Rohit even chose to sit out the Sydney Test due to his poor performance. Manjrekar pointed out that the issue is that people hold onto emotional attachments to big players, making it hard to make logical decisions about them.
He suggested that selectors (the people who choose who plays) have a bigger impact on the team than the coach does. He criticized the current management for not being honest about dropping players when needed, instead covering it up to avoid backlash. Manjrekar emphasized that it’s more important for the team’s success than for the reputation of individual players.
He called on everyone — past players, the media, and fans — to prioritize Indian cricket over individual star players, just like Australia does. They don’t wait for a player to retire and will drop them if they aren’t performing well.
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