Which player did Sanjay Manjrekar express displeasure over the exclusion of which player in the team selection for the ODI series against Afghanistan? For what did Manjrekar ask Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar to apologize? What questions did Manjrekar raise on keeping Rohit Sharma in the team?
Mumbai: There has been an uproar as soon as the Indian team was announced for the ODI series against Afghanistan. Former Indian player and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has strongly criticized the selection committee of BCCI. Manjrekar is very angry with the fact that young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a brilliant century in the last match, has been dropped from the team.
While talking in a podcast, Manjrekar directly raised questions on the decision of Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar. He said that what is the point of keeping 39-year-old Rohit Sharma in the team by leaving out 24-year-old in-form Jaiswal, when there are question marks on both Rohit’s form and fitness.
Manjrekar demanded that the selectors should call Jaiswal and apologize for this wrong decision. He also asked what the BCCI is planning for the 2027 ODI World Cup by keeping Rohit as the opener. Manjrekar clearly said, “If Rohit has been included in the team under any pressure, then Agarkar should apologize to Jaiswal.”
He further said, “You are doing this with a young player who is performing brilliantly even in the toughest format like Test cricket. He is only 24 years old and is in the best form of his career. In his last ODI innings, Jaiswal had scored 116 runs, that too not out. Yet he is not in the team.”
Manjrekar asked, “Instead, you are going after a senior player whose fitness is in question and who is also out of form at the moment. Can someone explain the logic to me? What is your long-term vision?”
He said that there may be some reasons behind keeping Virat Kohli in the team, but this is not the case with Rohit Sharma. Manjrekar asked, “Does Ajit Agarkar think this is the right approach? Will Rohit Sharma be your main opener even after two years? Shouldn’t Jaiswal or Sai Sudarshan be given more chances in place of Rohit?”
According to the current decision, in the upcoming series, only captain Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma will open for India in ODIs. Jaiswal, who is being considered as India’s next superstar in all three formats, has sparked a lot of debate among the fans over his exclusion from the ODIs.