“A team of 11, not just one or two” – Sanjay Manjrekar on India not being overly dependent on Rohit Sharma & Virat Kohli at 2024 T20 World Cup

Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes India is not over-reliant on the shoulders of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, which is a positive. While Rohit Sharma has scored 99 runs in five matches of the World Cup at an average of 24.75 and a strike rate of 124.31, Kohli has managed only 66 runs in five games at an average of 13.20.

Thus, the likes of Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav have done a decent job for the team. 

While Kohli ended IPL 2024 as the highest run-getter, Rohit was also in decent form for Mumbai Indians in the first phase of the tournament. But, both of them have not been able to carry the same form in the T20I showpiece.

Sanjay Manjrekar wrote for Hindustan Times, “Rohit and Virat are still obvious icons in this team and for its fans, but India, as we have seen in this WC, have moved on. It is now a team of 11, not just one or two. Come the semis, when the challenge gets stiffer and India play with the realisation that they will be knocked out of the tournament if they lose, Rohit and Virat must continue to embrace this attitude.”

Meanwhile, Manjrekar recalled that Kohli and Rohit adopted a sedate approach in the 2022 T20 World Cup semifinal against England and it led to the team’s downfall.

“The last thing India want is a repeat of the semis of the last T20 WC when both Rohit and Virat took it upon themselves to be the ones to lead India’s fight against a strong England side, which backfired badly.”

Manjrekar raised doubts that Arshdeep Singh might not be able to handle the pressure situation in big matches.

“I also have one minor concern regarding India’s seam quality (barring the genius of Bumrah, of course); I am not so sure about Arshdeep against a strong team on a pressure stage. This aside, India seem to have all bases covered.”

India will next take on Australia at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia on Monday.