Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that there was no need to panic after the back to back retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the space of a week, adding that the Indian team managed to move forward even after the Fab Four, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly, all hung up their boots.
“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 on Instagram
“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.
Manjrekar also said that when Laxman, Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar retired, it coincided with India getting 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. The same could happen here as well. You’ll discover new stars and new bowlers, and India will continue to be one of the top teams in the world.”
Manjrekar though did flag India’s overseas batting fragility.
“You need some time. Because in overseas conditions, batting is very important and that is where our current fragility lies. But guess what? There’s another way to look at this current Indian team, where Rohit and Virat Kohli were part of the Indian team. India lost 3-0 at home against New Zealand and lost poorly, badly in Australia as well. So guess what? With this team, we just have nothing to lose. All the best New India,” said Manjrekar.
(With agency inputs)