New Delhi, May 15: Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels there is no need to panic following the twin retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, drawing parallels with how Indian cricket bounced back after the legendary “Fab Four” stepped away from the longest format.
Within the span of a week, two modern-day stalwarts– Kohli and Rohit have bid adieu to Test cricket, prompting concerns about India’s red-ball future.
Manjrekar drew comparison to the time when Indian cricket saw the exits of the “Fab Four” comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
“I know there’ll be a few fans concerned. There was a sense of panic when the fab four quit all at the same time, but guess what? A couple of years later, India was the number one Test team in the world,” Manjrekar said in an Instagram video he posted.
India had risen to the top of the ICC Test rankings soon after that transitional phase.
“So, as long as I believe in this very strongly, as long as the sport is popular in India and there are enough young players, youth, desperate to play for India, and there are thousands in India, which means anybody who sort of comes through that kind of a grind has to be quality talent,” said Manjrekar.
The 59-year-old also highlighted how the phase following the Fab Four’s retirement coincided with the emergence of a more potent bowling attack.
“It will take a bit of time, but let’s not panic. Remember what happened after Fab Four, the Indian bowling quality improved. (PTI)
