Rohit Sharma SLAMMED For Being 'Unfair' To KL Rahul During Boxing Day Test Vs Australia
Photo : AP
Rohit Sharma continued his horrific run in Test Cricket when he got out after scoring just three runs in the fourth Test of the series against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). He returned to open the batting in this match after playing at no.6 ever since his return in the 2nd Test at Adelaide. With him opening the batting, KL Rahul, who batted brilliantly throughout the series was pushed down to no.3, while Shubman Gill was dropped. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar did not approve of this move.
In an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo, Sanjay Manjrekar said that sacrificing smaller-name players like KL Rahul to get a big-name player like Rohit Sharma back in form is a common happening in Indian cricket.
“This is something that happens a lot in the Indian cricket culture. There is a big-name player, just to get him on track, we often sacrifice a lesser or a smaller name and it doesn’t ever make cricketing logic or it’s never best for the team," Majrekar said.
KL Rahul has been India's top run-getter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy so far. Hence, to sacrifice the team's best-performing batter just to get Rohit Sharma back into form was deemed a wrong call by Sanjay Manjrekar.
“KL Rahul has been their most consistent batter. He stitched a record partnership in Australia with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Just because Rohit Sharma is out of form and is a senior player, just to get him back into form and give him something different, you can’t be making these kinds of changes," the former India batter said.
“That just reflects poorly on Indian cricket as to what is a priority for Indian cricket and it’s happened in the past as well with Tendulkar. That just wasn’t the right call and KL Rahul, although didn’t get too affected by it, was just unfair," he concluded.
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