India under Virat Kohli reminiscent of Pakistan under Imran Khan, says Sanjay Manjrekar

02/03/2020

Former Indian cricketer-turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has compared Virat Kohli’s tenure as Indian captain to that of Pakistan’s World Cup-winning captain Imran Khan after India’s historic 5-0 T20 cleansweep of New Zealand. Manjrekar has also named KL Rahul as the find of the series.

A dominant Team India under Kohli’s captaincy handed the Kiwis a humiliating loss on their own turn. But with the last three wins coming from losing positions, Manjrekar believes that the strong self-belief of the Men in Blue, as a reflection of their skipper, is like the Pakistan team of old.

“India under Virat in NZ reminds me of Pakistan under Imran. Strong self belief as a team. Pakistan under Imran found different ways of winning matches, often from losing positions. That only happens when the self belief is strong,” Manjrekar tweeted on Monday, reported The Indian Express.

For his 224 runs from five innings at an average of 56, including two half-centuries, Rahul was named ‘Player of the Series’. The 27-year-old, who also led India in the second innings of the final T20I in the absence of the injured Rohit Sharma, is the find of the series according to Manjrekar.

“Find of the T20 series in NZ for me is the ‘batsman keeper’ K L Rahul. Absolutely brilliant!” Manjrekar added.