Harbhajan Singh slams Sanjay Manjrekar for his ‘easiest format’ jibe at Virat Kohli

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed Sanjay Manjrekar for claiming that Virat Kohli chose the ‘easiest format’ for the final phase of his international career after retiring from the longest and shortest formats of the game.

For the unversed, in a video shared on Instagram, Manjrekar stated that ODI is the easiest format for top-order batters, due to the lack of help for bowlers and conservative field placements.

However, Harbhajan was quick to argue that if the format was so easy, then everyone would be scoring a lot of runs. Notably, Kohli bid adieu to the longest format of the game in May 2025, following a poor BGT campaign Down Under. Kohli ended his Test career with 9230 runs from 123 matches at an average of 46.85, including 30 hundreds and 31 half-centuries. 

“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 in Mumbai.

Furthermore, Bhajji also talked about the forthcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign and Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form in the format. He stated that he is saving the best for the mega event.

“Maybe, he is saving it for the World Cup. Surya is a class player. There is no doubt about it. I still believe that he is probably the No.1 player in this format. People often talk about how great AB de Villiers is, but we have our own guy who does the same job. And I do back him to come good for India in this World Cup. Not just as a captain, but as a batter. I am hoping for some big runs from him,” the former spinner concluded.

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