Sanjay Manjrekar, who is known to always be in favor of Rohit Sharma, has surprisingly made a bold claim on the opening batter, who announced his retirement from Test cricket on May 07. The 38-year-old announced his retirement from the red-ball format via an Instagram story and said he will continue to play ODIs for India.
It is to be noted that the opening batter's Test future was in massive doubt after he failed horribly in the Border Gavaskar Trophy Down Under, averaging just 6.25 from five innings. However, Manjrekar stated that not only the series against Australia, but Rohit Sharma scored 164 runs in his last 15 Test innings, of which 10 innings came at home against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
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Taking to X, the Cricketer-turned-expert cited Rohit Sharma's fitness levels as well as his poor form compounded to days as an opener were numbered.
"164 in his last 15 innings. Out of which 10 were at home v Bangladesh & NZ. Average 10.9. With his current fitness levelsRohit Sharma’s days as Test opener were over. So"
Is Sanjay Manjrekar right on Rohit Sharma's statement?
Facts tell that Manjrekar is not entirely wrong in summing up the Team India opener when it comes to Test matches. Not only Down Under, but the 38-year-old also averaged just a dismal 10.5 in the two home Tests against Bangladesh. Luck deserted him in the next Test series against New Zealand, as he scored just 91 runs in six innings at an average of 15.16.
Since being promoted as an opener in Test format in 2019, the right-hand batter has scored 2677 runs from 68 innings, scoring nine hundreds and eight fifties. However, all those runs were accumulated from the 2019-2022 period. After that, Rohit Sharma's form diminished in Test cricket.
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