Cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has reacted to India captain Virat Kohli’s view on ‘outside talks’ which he feels are nothing but ‘nonsense’. The 32-year-old’s comment came in a press conference ahead of the 3-match ODI series against England in Pune.
Replying to a question on KL Rahul, who is going through a lean patch, Virat Kohli said that his team was not going to allow the ‘nonsense’ outside noise enter the dressing room. He went on to add that players in Team India will be backed and given a good mental space.
“When an individual is going through a tough phase – it’s not like he forgets how to play, it’s just that mental clarity isn’t as good at the time – at that time if you know what things are being said and you’re being told you’re out of form, then you’re bringing in another external factor into your system,” Kohli said of Rahul’s ongoing lean patch. “It’s a simple game: you have to watch the ball and react and hit the ball. You have to be in the moment and all this outside talk, to be very honest, is completely nonsense.
“From the first to the last day of my career, all this outside talk has been nonsense to me. Who says what and why about a player, what’s the motive behind it, what’s the thinking behind it, it’s better that all that remains outside because we’re not going to let it enter our system even in the future. We are going to back our players and try and give them a good mental space,” Virat Kohli said.
“Outside talk which Virat calls nonsense is basically public reacting to a public performance. And it’s always been the same- Praise when you do well, critique when you don’t. Virat must learn to accept this age old reality with calmness & maturity. Just like Dhoni did,” Manjrekar tweeted.
