'Sacrifice a lesser or a smaller name': Rohit Sharma criticised for unfair treatment of KL Rahul in Boxing Day Test

Rohit Sharma's struggles in Test Cricket persisted as he was dismissed for just three runs in the fourth Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Despite returning to open the batting in this match after previously batting at no.6, Sharma's performance was disappointing. This change in the batting order also saw KL Rahul, who had been performing well throughout the series, moved down to no.3, while Shubman Gill was left out of the team.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar expressed his disapproval of this decision, stating that sacrificing players like Rahul in order to accommodate a high-profile player like Sharma is a common occurrence in Indian cricket. Manjrekar's comments, made during an interview with ESPN Cricinfo, shed light on the complexities of team selection and the pressures faced by players in the international arena.

“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 emerged as India's third leading run-scorer in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Therefore, the decision to bench the team's top-performing batsman in order to accommodate Rohit Sharma and help him regain form was criticized 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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