Virat Kohli must learn to react to "outside talk" with maturity and calmness: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sanjay Manjrekar has advised Virat Kohli against brushing off public reaction as nonsense. The cricketer-turned-commentator instead asked the Indian skipper to take the "outside talk" in his stride.

At a virtual press conference ahead of the first ODI against England, Virat Kohli termed outside talks as “useless” while reacting to criticism over KL Rahul.

However, Manjrekar feels public opinion is very much an integral part of Indian cricket and must get its due respect. Writing on his official Twitter account, Manjrekar stated:

“Outside talk which Virat calls nonsense is basically public reacting to a public performance. And it’s always been the same- Praise when you do well, critique when you don’t.”

Giving the example of former India captain MS Dhoni, Manjrekar added:

“Virat must learn to accept this age old reality with calmness & maturity. Just like Dhoni did.”

Outside talk which Virat calls nonsense is basically public reacting to a public performance. And it’s always been the same- Praise when you do well, critique when you don’t. Virat must learn to accept this age old reality with calmness & maturity. Just like Dhoni did.

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 23, 2021

Team India, who will face England in the first of three ODIs in Pune on Tuesday, head into the series, having defeated the visitors in both the Tests and the T20Is.

At a press conference ahead of the ODI series, Virat Kohli shared his views on many burning issues. He spoke about Rahul’s form, umpire’s call in DRS and the controversial catch of Suryakumar Yadav during the T20I series.

There is a lot of impatience outside the cricket set-up

: Virat Kohli

💬 "We will continue backing our players." #TeamIndia captain @imVkohli stresses the importance of keeping the players in good mental space. #INDvENG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/qy7AqmrW6O

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 22, 2021

Reacting to a question over Rahul’s struggles at the media conference, Virat Kohli referenced lines from a popular Bollywood song and said:

"When I think of 'form and out-of-form', my mind goes to the song, kuch to log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kehna; chhodo, bekaar ki baaton mein kahin beet na jaaye raina (people will talk, their job is to talk; leave all the useless talks for we may lose the night in that).”

The India skipper further added in this regard:

"There is a lot of impatience outside the cricket set-up. People have their point of view, have their own ideas as to what is going on in players' mind. That (eventually) becomes a judgement. People have become fond of hearing criticism regularly. So if a player is down, people love putting him down further."

According to Virat Kohli, India won't let the "outside talks" affect the team.

“It is a game that is played in the moment. All these outside talks, to be very honest are useless. We don't let that come in the team and won't let it come in the future," Virat Kohli continued.

🗣️🗣️ With our medical set-up & the bio-bubble, we will have a successful ODI series in Pune: @imVkohli #TeamIndia #INDvENG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/oytkPq9xDI

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 22, 2021

Virat Kohli was the man of the series in the T20Is. He roared back to form with three half-centuries in five games.