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When Sanjay Manjrekar Put Kohli's Test Prospects Under Question After Series Of Failures

image-lr33e0olVirat Kohli (Twitter)

Virat Kohli maybe standing among the pantheon of Test match batting greats today, but there was a time when the aspiring Delhi right-hander had a difficult initiation to the challenging red-ball format for India. 

Kohli had nailed the runs-chart in first-class game but failed in his first assignment for India in the West Indies in July 2011 before another pair of failures at the start of the marquee Australian trip had given way to criticism and question marks on his future in Test cricket. 

The bone of contention was the right-hander's bottom-handed technique and inability to tackle the short-pitched deliveries and the awkward positions Kohli would invariably find himself in to try and overcome those. 

When Manjrekar Questioned Kohli's Test Prospects 

One of the leading experts who was disappointed to see how the young batter approached the bouncer ploy was Sanjay Manjrekar as he made a tweet which has gone viral in recent years for being proven wrong. 

In a controversial tweet made on 6th January 2012, Manjrekar not only asked for the dropping of struggling Indian batting great VVS Laxman ahead of the third Test of the 2011-12 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth but also suggested the team management to give Kohli one more Test "just to be sure he doesn't belong here."


As it transpired, however, Kohli proved Manjrekar and various other experts wrong by reinforcing his talent and promise on the bounciest track in Australia in the following Test. 

Playing in Perth, the then 23-year-old top scored for India in either innings with fantastic knocks of 44 and 75, emerging as the tourists' lone warrior on a lively surface where the Australians won by an innings & 37 runs. 

Deemed as a turning point in his career, Kohli used the Perth Test as a springboard to then achieve his maiden three-figure mark in the format. He made an excellent century in the fourth and final Test of the series in Adelaide.