Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Indian cricketer, says Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would not repeat their blunders from the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal match against England, which they lost by 10 wickets. Manjrekar stated that India could only score 168 runs against England due to lethargic batting by the top-order hitters. However, he expressed that both Virat and Rohit have evolved as T20 hitters and will avoid making the same mistakes in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Men in Blue will begin their campaign against Ireland on June 5, Wednesday.

In the last T20 World Cup two years ago, in the semis bulk of deliveries were faced by the seniors, Rohit and Kohli. Rohit got 27 off 28 balls at a strike rate of 96, while Virat secured 50 off 40 balls at a strike rate of 125, eventually getting out in the 18th over. However, Rohit impressed everyone with his aggressive brand of batting in Cricket World Cup 2023 while Kohli emerged as the highest run-scorer in the recently-concluded IPL 2024, winning the Orange Cap for the second time.

Having said this, we can be sure of one thing. Rohit and Virat will not commit the same mistakes made in that semis. It’s worth acknowledging that Virat is not the same T20 player he was two years ago. He must know deep down, surely, that the ‘outside noise’ has actually made him a better T20 batter today than he was two years ago, Manjrekar added.

Is there still a lingering risk attached to Virat – that when it comes to the big stage, the knockout games, he is preoccupied with batting longer rather than batting quicker? For Indian cricket’s sake, let’s hope this preoccupation is buried deep, the former batter concluded.