Virat Kohli's brother slams Sanjay Manjrekar after IPL 2025 strike rate debate: 'Easy to talk' – Firstpost

Virat Kohli’s brother Vikas has hit back at former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar for his analysis of strike rates in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which many have also perceived as a criticism of the former Indian captain.
Manjrekar has been praising the young players and their higher strike rates in the IPL 2025. A few days back in a social media post, Manjrekar also shared a list of batters on X, which he felt were most impactful in IPL 202,5 as they not only scored big runs (minimum of 250) but also accumulated them at a strike rate of at least 150.
The list was seen as a dig on Virat Kohli, who has scored 443 runs in 10 matches so far for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) but his runs have come at a strike rate of 138.87. In fact, Kohli is the only batter in the top 10 run-getters so far in IPL 2025 to have a strike rate of less than 145.
When it comes to batting only list that matters.Big runs with great SR so far.

Pooran : 377 runs SR 205

Priyansh Arya : 254 runs SR 202

Shreyas : 263 runs SR 185

Surya : 373 runs SR 167

Buttler : 356 runs SR 166

Mitchell Marsh : 344 runs SR 161

Travis Head: 261 runs SR…
Kohli’s brother, Vikas Kohli, is certainly among those who felt Manjrekar’s criticism is misplaced. Vikas took a dig at Manjrekar by posting the former batter’s strike rate in ODIs on his official Threads account.
After mentioning Manjrekar’s ODI strike rate of 64, Vikas said it is “easy to talk about” higher strike rates.
“Mr sanjay manjrekar; Career odi strike rate: 64:31; Easy to talk about 200 plus strike rates,” Vikas wrote on Threads.

Nonetheless, Kohli is only 13 runs behind Gujarat Titans’ Sai Sudarshan in the Orange Cap race, while RCB are at the top of the IPL 2025 points table with seven wins from 10 matches.
RCB’s bowling has been their biggest strength so far under Rajat Patidar’s captaincy as the team looks to win their first IPL title.
Their next match is against Chennai Super Kings at home in Bengaluru on Saturday. A victory at the M Chinnaswamy stadium will almost guarantee qualification to the playoffs.
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