‘Certainly Disturbed It’: Sanjay Manjrekar’s Strong Remarks On Rohit Sharma After He Opens The Innings In Boxing Day Test

Former India player Sanjay Manjrekar has castigated India captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to start the proceedings in the ongoing 4th Test against Australia in Melbourne. Manjrekar was unhappy with Rohit's decision to promote himself up the order as it disturbed the coordination of the in-form duo, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The likes of Rahul and Jaiswal have opened for India in the last three Test matches for the Indian team in Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane but when Rohit came to open the innings, it created chaos in the batting order.

"When you play well against Australia, you are respected a lot. KL Rahul, who has been India's best batter in this series, has scored runs at the top, put on a record stand as well. India moved him out of his preferred position just so that Rohit Sharma can get an opportunity to return to form This is the wrong way of thinking," Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports during commentary

"Rohit Sharma had said in the press conference that he does not wish to disturb the positions of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. But, when the match began, he certainly disturbed it," he added.

Rohit's early wicket put extra pressure on Rahul and Jaiswal. However, Jaiswal managed to build a stand of 102 runs with Virat Kohli but then a massive confusion took place where the left-hander had to walk off. 

Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Alex Carey (WK), Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah(vc), Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran.