"I don't think Virat Kohli wants power" - Sanjay Manjrekar on former India captain

Sanjay Manjrekar recently spoke about how Virat Kohli enjoys being on the field, similar to how Sachin Tendulkar used to during his playing days.

Manjrekar reckoned that playing the sport is Kohli's main motivator. The former cricketer claimed that the star batter isn't too concerned with power or leadership, as being with the team is more important to him.

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that Kohli captained India for a very long time, so there was no question of him being unhappy with the change in leadership.

Speaking on sports journalist Vimal Kumar's YouTube channel, Sanjay Manjrekar stated:

"The one similarity between Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar is that both of them enjoy playing cricket. They want to be on the field. He was not part of the team for the game against Bangladesh but was still on the field. I don't think Virat Kohli wants power or leadership."

"He just wants to play and it looks like he enjoys being a part of the team," he added. "He captained the team for a very long time, so there is no scope for an unfulfilled dream. Being with the team, travelling with players, going to the ground, and being part of winning moments are more important to him than having power."

Notably, Virat Kohli led India across formats before Rohit Sharma took over the reins. His stint ended after he resigned from India's Test captaincy on January 15, 2022.

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"Will be very difficult for Virat Kohli to reach 51 Test centuries" - Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar also added that while Virat Kohli has performed admirably in red-ball cricket, equalling Sachin Tendulkar's record of 51 Test centuries will be a challenging task for him.

He also highlighted that scoring runs in the longest format is significantly tougher than ODIs. Manjrekar added:

"Sachin Tendulkar has 51 hundreds, 17 more than what Sunil Gavaskar finished with. For a good player, accumulating runs in ODIs is comparatively easy, as bowlers don't always try to take a wicket. Tendulkar and Kohli are special because they also have a lot of Test hundreds. However, I believe it will be very difficult for Kohli to reach 51 Test centuries."

It is worth mentioning that Kohli has 29 Test tons to his name. However, he is only two behind Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries.