Virat Kohli’s family brutally attacks Sanjay Manjrekar over Test retirement remarks

Following Joe Root’s promising form in the longest format of the game, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar recalled Indian great Virat Kohli and asserted that Kohli should not have abandoned the format he once loved so quickly and could have instead mounted a fightback.

The Test format has gained further popularity in recent times, and England’s Joe Root is its irreplaceable king. He was the best runner in WTC history and was unstoppable every season for England.

Steve Smith of Australia and Kane Williamson of New Zealand also had good seasons of their own, but Virat Kohli averaged 31 in the last 5 years of his career. Kohli finally announced his retirement from the format in 2025.

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Sanjay Manjrekar brutally attacked Virat Kohli during his Test retirement

After Kohli’s retirement, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar went on to comment that the veteran Indian batter should have attempted a fightback instead of just turning his back on the longest format of the game.

Manjrekar also launched a thorough attack on the Indian batting, saying that despite his remarkable fitness, he gave up Test cricket too early, while his peers from England, Australia and New Zealand, who were part of the Fab-4, are still scoring runs with ease.

Manjrekar’s remarks were not taken lightly by Indian fans as they seemed furious at the scathing attack on their legend and the player who was intent on calling him a coward, one of the most aggressive stars in the longest format of the game.

Virat Kohli’s brother launches scathing attack on Sanjay Manjrekar

After the attack on Virat Kohli, Vikas Kohli, the elder brother of the Indian cricketer, responded with a tweet against Sanjay Manjrekar’s comments. The Indian cricketer’s brother mocked Manjrekar, who was attacked due to such bold statements in the past.

Mocking the former Indian batsman, Vikash Kohli wrote: “Looks like Logon ki Daal Roti nahi chali….Bina Virat Kohli ka naam liye hue.”

Vikash Bhaiya is in no mood to spare Sanjay Manjrekar.

He doesn’t hold back 🥶 pic.twitter.com/18w4b9ojPu

– Kohlistic🔥 (@Kohlistic18) January 7, 2026

His attack seemed to be a direct attack on the former player, trying to grab attention by using Virat Kohli’s name. Virat is such an icon of world cricket that even his name can have a huge impact on the viewers.

Virat Kohli nears 28,000 international runs

Virat Kohli has opted out of the Test and T20 formats of the game, but continues to feature for India in the 50-over format. A true veteran of the format, Kohli is the second highest scorer in the format and the highest century player in the history of the format.

Kohli, who is just a few runs away from the 28,000-run mark in international cricket, would also take the least number of innings to reach the landmark as he still has 19 innings left to play. Another 42 runs would also allow him to overtake Kumar Sangakkara to become the second highest run-scorer in international cricket, behind Sachin Tendulkar.

Kohli would get a chance to equalize the records in the upcoming series against South Africa, where India will play three ODI matches starting January 11.

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