Sanjay Manjrekar hits out at Rohit Sharma to replace KL Rahul as starter, exposes problem in Indian cricket culture
Launching a scathing attack on India’s cricket culture, Sanjay Manjrekar has criticized the decision to make changes for the under-performing captain. Rohit Sharma at the expense of the balance of the squad for the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Manjrekar highlighted the growing trend of prioritizing the return to form of flagship players over maintaining a stable line-up, and believes India’s trend has altered the team dynamic. The former Indian batsman’s remarks came after Team India’s pair of changes backfired in the mandatory fourth Test against Australia.
Sanjay Manjrekar calls for Rohit Sharma’s return as opener, urges India to prioritize performance over big names
Indeed, Rohit Sharma returned to his usual opening position despite struggling in the middle order with just 19 runs in three innings in the ongoing 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where he missed the first Test against Australia in Perth .
Ever since the captain of the Indian cricket team returned to his starting place, KL Rahul, who had been the team’s most consistent opener in the ongoing five-match Test. seriesmoved to number three, breaking his successful partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal for the crucial Boxing Day Test.
The batting order mix-up did not yield the expected result as Rohit was dismissed cheaply for 3 runs while KL Rahul could only manage 24 runs against Australia in the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in course in Melbourne. Apart from these changes, India also played an additional spin all-rounder, Washington Sundar, for whom they fell Shubman Gill.
We make all kinds of adjustments to give opportunity to iconic players: Sanjay Manjrekar
According to Wisden, Sanjay Manjrekar said during the commentary: “One problem that is deeply connected with the culture of Indian cricket is that all those iconic players in India, they fight for runs, and then we go out of our way to make sure that they come .get back into shape.
“We make all kinds of adjustments to provide the best kind of platform or opportunity for flagship players. A situation where KL Rahul has been the best opener on both sides, India’s most consistent batsman – he is being shifted from the his position. batting at No. 3, so Rohit Sharma gets a chance to get fit.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the logic of replacing KL Rahul with Rohit Sharma in the top order as he pointed out that the Karnataka batsman had thrived in the opening order in Australia and had even formed a record partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Test from Perth.
Sanjay Manjrekar says India risked team performance because of Rohit Sharma’s ego
The cricket expert said the Indian team management’s attempts to help struggling players like Rohit Sharma regain form are understandable, but they should not have risked the team’s performance, especially in such a high game. He also argued that the team’s best interests should have come first, rather than valuing the egos of big names.
Manjrekar signed off saying, “KL Rahul has been so good in this position. It is not easy to open in Australia. Jaiswal and KL Rahul had a record partnership for India in Australia but India were very happy to break this partnership to allow a big-name player to succeed In Australia, when you’ve found a first-rounder who’s had the role pushed him to No. 3 to get a woefully out-of-form big-name player to open, I thought it was a bad call.
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