“Coach Gambhir maybe relieved” - Sanjay Manjrekar’s subtle dig at Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 Tests
Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar took a subtle dig at Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, saying the side without their presence could pose a massive threat to England in the upcoming five-Test series. India will play five Tests in England, starting at Leeds on June 20.
The legendary duo of Kohli and Rohit retired from Tests last month after enduring a dismal run in red-ball cricket over the past year. Both batters struggled for form in India's two previous Test series against New Zealand at home and Australia away.
It resulted in India suffering 0-3 and 1-3 series defeats and missing the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Talking about the upcoming England series in his column for the Hindustan Times, Manjrekar said:
"England will still start as firm favorites, but India could be dangerous for they will be free spirited. Two senior batters woefully out of form and rock bottom on self-confidence won’t be casting their dark shadows on the team anymore, and coach Gambhir especially may be relieved by this."
He added:
"Batters need to play close to the body and refrain from hitting through the line when not to the pitch of the ball, which means they have to do exactly the opposite of what they were doing for the last two months in IPL. And yes, leave deliveries outside off. Anyone who can’t do these two things will have a miserable tour of England."
India will have a relatively inexperienced batting lineup to combat the challenging English pitches, with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant being the most senior among the specialist batters.
"Technically they aren’t sitting ducks" - Sanjay Manjrekar on India's batting
Sanjay Manjrekar backed the inexperienced Indian batting lineup to display technical prowess in the upcoming Test series in England. The Indian batters will have a short turnaround to get accustomed to the red-ball format after over two months of T20 cricket with the IPL.
Their task will be made harder by England being unbeaten in a Test series at home since Ben Stokes took over as Test captain in mid-2022.
"India are fortunate to have Jaiswal, Rahul, Pant, Sudharsan, Jadeja and even Nitish Reddy who despite being modern day products of the T20 world can play close to the body and leave balls outside off. This batting line-up may be inexperienced, but technically they aren’t sitting ducks," said Manjrekar (via aforementioned source).
He added:
"I saw KL Rahul practicing this a lot in the nets while facing Bumrah two days back. He was in a sense getting reacquainted. Karun Nair will have to focus on this the most, from the possible top five he has a tendency to play loose armed on the up, as a natural reaction to a good length ball."
The England series marks the start of Shubman Gill's captaincy tenure in Tests and India's WTC 2025-27 cycle.