Manan Vohra learning to handle failures; reveals Virender Sehwag's bat offer

Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra (R)

Kings XI Punjab opening batsman Manan Vohra has admitted that he cannot handle failures and that made him doubly determined to contribute for the team in the Champions League T20 match against Northern Knights at Mohali on September 26, one in which he scored a 32-ball 65 to set the Kiwi team a target of 215. The Knights, in reply, were all out for just 95 runs, unable to handle the opposition’s spin duo of Karanveer Singh and Akshar Patel.  

Speaking to Wisden India, Vohra said: “I think the biggest disadvantage I have right now is that I cannot handle myself mentally. I just cannot digest failure which I know is something I shouldn’t do but I can’t stop it. I need to learn how to handle these things because they are part of the game.

“I need to be a bit more mature and learn a lot more. Tonight I was in no mood to fail. I was very frustrated after having failed in the first two games.”

Sehwag’s promised gift to Vohra

Vohra also revealed that he had missed out on an opportunity to receive Virender Sehwag’s bat as a gift, which he would have had he scored a century in the match that sealed Kings XI’s semi-final spot Sehwag himself scored a half-century as both of them put together a 102-run partnership in just 8.2 overs for the Punjab-based franchise.

Vohra said: “The presence of Viru (Sehwag), and (George) Bailey has helped me a lot. In fact, Viru told me that he would give me his bat if I would score a century – I missed out on that chance.”

He added: “They have experienced a lot of pressures in cricket and they give me a lot of advice on how to handle these pressures too, so I am trying to work more on my mental aspect now. As of now, we have seen some improvement but I know I have a long way to go before my dreams of playing for the country are a reality.”