In a scathing attack on India’s cricketing culture, Sanjay Manjrekar has criticized the decision to make a change for under-performing captain Rohit Sharma at the cost of team balance for the ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Manjrekar highlighted the growing trend of favoring returning iconic players to form rather than maintaining a stable squad and felt India’s trend was disrupting team dynamics. The former Indian batsman’s comments came after the Indian team suffered a back-to-back result in the must-win fourth Test against Australia.
Sanjay Manjrekar calls on India to prioritize performance over big names as Rohit Sharma returns open
In fact, Rohit Sharma returned to his usual opening position despite struggling in the middle order with just 19 runs from three overs in the ongoing 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, his maiden Test debut against Australia in Perth.
KL Rahul, who has been the team’s most consistent opener in the ongoing five-match Test series, broke his successful partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the third order after the Indian cricket team captain returned to the opening fold. Test of the Day.
The batting order shuffle did not pay off as Rohit was dismissed cheaply for 3 runs while KL Rahul managed just 24 runs against Australia in the ongoing fourth edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Melbourne. In addition to these changes, India also played additional spin all-rounder Washington Sundar, for whom Shubman Gill was dropped.
We make all kinds of adjustments to enable iconic players: Sanjay Manjrekar
According to Wisden, Sanjay Manjrekar said during the commentary: “One thing that is deeply connected to the culture of Indian cricket is that all those iconic players in India struggle for runs and then we go out of our way to make sure that he comes back to form.
“We’re making all kinds of adjustments to give the best platform or opportunity for iconic players. It’s a situation where KL Rahul is the best opener for both sides, the most consistent batsman for India – he gets dismissed, bats at No. 3, so Rohit Sharma is given an opportunity to get a uniform.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjrekar questioned the logic of replacing KL Rahul with Rohit Sharma, noting that the Karnataka batsman thrived in the opening slot in Australia and even forged a record partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Perth Test.
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Sanjay Manjrekar says India risked team performance for Rohit Sharma’s ego
A 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 jeopardized the team’s performance, especially in such a high-stakes game. He also argued that the team’s best interests should come first, instead of catering to the egos of big names.
Manjrekar said, “KL Rahul was very good in this position. Opening up in Australia is not easy. 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 player to succeed. I thought it was just a bad call when I found a player in Australia watching the game and dropping him to No.3, forcing him to open a popular out-of-form player.
