Champions Trophy 2025: Sanjay Manjrekar advises Virat Kohli to approach Pakistan game ‘with a peaceful mind’

India’s Champions Trophy 2025 match against Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, February 23, will be watched closely to see how star batsman Virat Kohli performs. Recently, Kohli has not been too impressive when batting in the 50-over format. Additionally, in his last three ODI appearances, he has been removed to Adil Rashid (twice) and Rishad Hossain, demonstrating his difficulty tackling leg-spinners.

Instead of trying to overdo it with long net sessions against spinners during practice, former cricket player-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said that Kohli would be better off trusting his skills and going with the flow.

“You think too much and practise too much when you (Virat Kohli) are running a little out of form.

You just overdo it sometimes. Simply keep striking the netting with the balls. It’s more about mentality than it is about hitting technique. In addition to having some technological difficulties, he is going through a challenging moment. He was not too confident in the last game (against Bangladesh), but he is making every effort. “He simply needs to calm down a little bit without exerting too much effort, and then go out there with a calm head,” Manjrekar said in an interview with The Times of India.

Pant is in a sorry situation: Sanjay Manjrekar

In ODIs, the former top-order batsman believed that KL Rahul would be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter and would be chosen above Rishabh Pant.

“India performed admirably (against Bangladesh), checking off the majority of the boxes. If the pitch isn’t compelling, I don’t see any significant changes. Yadav’s character Kuldeep needs a bit more playing time. (KL) Rahul scored several runs, thus I doubt a new batsman or wicketkeeper will take his place. Pant is a rare talent for India, but he will remain out till Rahul contributes. “I’m sorry for him,” he continued.

Due to a viral ailment, Pant was unable to participate in India’s pregame training session. During a press conference prior to the game, Indian vice-captain Shubman Gill confirmed the development. In August 2024, during the away series against Sri Lanka, the southpaw made his final appearance for the country in the ODI format.