'If it's so easy, then everyone would have scored' - Harbhajan Singh slams Sanjay Manjrekar over recent remarks on Virat Kohli

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has come out strongly in support of Virat Kohli, criticising Sanjay Manjrekar for his recent comments questioning Kohli’s choice to continue playing One Day Internationals after stepping away from Test cricket.

Manjrekar had suggested that Kohli opted for “the easiest format to play” by focusing on ODIs, a remark that sparked widespread backlash across the cricketing fraternity. The comments also drew a sharp response from Kohli’s brother, Vikas Kohli, who took a jibe at Manjrekar on social media without naming him.

Reacting to the criticism, the off-spinner dismissed the notion that success in any international format comes easily and defended Kohli’s stature as one of India’s greatest match-winners.

“If it was so easy to score runs in any format, then everyone would have made it. Let’s just enjoy what people are doing. They are playing well, winning games, scoring runs, and taking wickets. That’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter who plays which format. Virat, whether he plays in one format or all formats, has been a fantastic player and a big time match winner for India,” Harbhajan said at an event, as quoted by Times of India.

The former spinner also highlighted Kohli’s broader influence on Indian cricket, stressing his importance as a role model for the next generation of players.

“They inspire the next generation. Manjrekar has his own way of thinking. The way I see it is that Virat and these players have played a major role to take this game forward. Virat is an unbelievable player. Even today, if he plays Test cricket, he will be our main player,” he added.

Manjrekar’s remarks came at a time when Kohli has been enjoying a strong run in the ODI format. Manjrekar argued that batting in ODIs has become significantly easier for top-order batters, expanding on his stance in a video shared on social media where he compared the demands of different formats.

He further contrasted Kohli’s Test career trajectory with that of England’s Joe Root, suggesting Kohli could have done more to address his struggles in red-ball cricket.

“Well, as Joe Root attains new heights in Test cricket, my mind goes to Virat Kohli. He’s walked away from Tests, and it’s unfortunate that in the five years that he struggled before retiring, that he didn’t quite put his heart and soul into finding out the problems as to why he was averaging 31 for five years in Tests,” Manjrekar said.

He also expressed disappointment over Kohli’s continued presence in ODIs after leaving Test cricket.

“It was okay, Virat Kohli just walked away from cricket, retired from all cricket. But that he’s chosen to play one-day cricket actually disappoints me more, because this is a format which for a top-order batter, I’ve said before as well, is the easiest format,” he added.