India relies too much on Virat Kohli off late on overseas tours, says Manjrekar

Virat Kohli will be a man with a mission as he gets ready to lead the Indian team on a crucial tour of England. Kohli was recently declared fit after he passed the BCCI-mandated yo-yo test with ease along with the likes of MS Dhoni, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Suresh Raina. The Indian captain will undoubtedly be the batsman to watch out for when India go up against England, but former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar warned the Indian’s to not be over-reliant on Mr.Captain fantastic.

"At home, England is a very beatable side now. It is one of the only top teams that tends to lose at home. So, India has a very good chance. According to me, India’s only concern is its batting. It relies too much on Kohli of late on overseas tours and that issue needs to be addressed. But these observations are not for Asian or sub-continent conditions but for places like England, New Zealand, Australia or South Africa," Manjrekar said in an interview to Sportstar live.

However, the 52-year old also added that India should focus on their batting order as he remained confident about the bowling department with the likes of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah in prime form. Wrist spinning duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav worked wonders in South Africa earlier this year as they picked up 33 wickets in six ODI’s.

"In the last trip to South Africa, our bowling was quite impressive. There were occasions when Indian batting could have won games easily. That did not happen. So, I think bowling will be our strength. It was our strength in South Africa as well. With the emergence of (Jasprit) Bumrah as the strike bowler, it has become much stronger. 

"Then, you have top class spinners and a great back-up like Kuldeep Yadav. Batting will need to stand up too. It can’t just be about one man, like in the 90s where (Sachin) was the only Indian batsman who would score runs consistently overseas," added Manjrekar.