Launching a scathing attack on India's cricket culture, Sanjay Manjrekar criticized the decision to make changes to the underperforming captain. Rohit Sharma At the expense of the team's balance in the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Highlighting the growing trend of prioritizing the return of top players to form at the expense of maintaining a stable squad, Manjrekar feels India's trend has disrupted the team dynamics. The former India batsman's comments came after the changes made by Team India backfired in the must-win fourth Test against Australia.
Sanjay Manjrekar criticizes Rohit Sharma's comeback in opener, urges India to prioritize performance over big names
In fact, Rohit Sharma has returned to his regular opening position despite struggling in the middle order with just 19 runs from three innings in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, as he missed the first Test against Australia in Perth.
Since the Indian cricket team's captain returned to the opening slot, KL Rahul, who has been the team's most consistent opener in the ongoing five-match Test. serieswas moved to number three, breaking his successful partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the crucial Boxing Day Test.
The shuffling of the batting order did not produce the result they expected, as Rohit was dismissed cheaply for 3 runs while KL Rahul managed just 24 runs against Australia in the ongoing 4th Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Melbourne. Apart from these changes, India also played an all-rounder, Washington Sundar, for which they were dropped Shubman Gill.
We are making all kinds of adjustments to give opportunity to our special players: Sanjay Manjrekar
As reported by Wisden, Sanjay Manjrekar said during commentary: “The problem that is deeply connected to Indian cricket culture is that all these top players in India, they struggle to get a run, and then we do everything we can to make sure he comes in. Back to form.
“We are making all kinds of adjustments to give the best kind of platform or opportunity to the top players. The situation where KL Rahul was the best opener for both sides, the most consistent batsman for India – he has been displaced from his position, batting at number three, so that Rohit Sharma can be given a chance.” To reach his level.”
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the logic behind KL Rahul replacing Rohit Sharma in the top order while pointing out that the Karnataka bat has been thriving in the opening slot in Australia and even formed a record partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Perth Test.
Sanjay Manjrekar says India risked the team's performance for the sake of Rohit Sharma's ego
The cricket expert said that the Indian team management's attempts to help struggling players like Rohit Sharma return to their form is understandable, but they should not risk the team's performance, especially in such a high-stakes match. He also said that the team's interest should come first, rather than appreciating the egos of big names.
“KL Rahul was very good in that position. It's not easy to open in Australia. Jaiswal and KL Rahul had a record partnership for India in Australia, but India were only too happy to break that partnership to allow a big-name player to succeed,” Manjrekar signed off. When you find an opener who looks good, and you push him to No. 3 to get a big-name player who is woefully out of form, I thought it was just a bad decision.
