Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar hailed Rohit Sharma for giving up the opening slot to KL Rahul in the second pink-ball Test match against Australia. After Rahul was able to grab his opening chance with both hands in the first Test match at Perth in the absence of Rohit Sharma, the full-time captain decided to bat in the middle order.

Rahul had returned with scores of 26 and 77 in the opening Test and he added 201 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings, which is the highest opening stand for India in Australian conditions.

Meanwhile, Rahul scored 37 runs in the first innings of the pink-ball Test at Adelaide but Rohit was dismissed cheaply after scoring only three runs while batting at number six.

Sanjay Manjrekar said on ESPN Cricinfo, “This call was very important, with the kind of confidence the two openers have. Although this is going to be a different challenge. Now the challenge for KL Rahul is to carry his form. He gave us a lot of promise. Both Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul are looking good. It is almost imperative that KL Rahul carries his form after the last Test.”

Manjrekar lauded Rohit Sharma for putting the team ahead of himself. In the pre-match presser, Rohit also admitted it was an easy decision from team’s point of view but it was a difficult decision for him personally.

“He is a guy who has won people’s hearts by just being a good leader who puts the team first, the way he batted in the 2023 World Cup as well. So, this was, we suggested it and we all thought it was possible that this would happen, more so because Rohit Sharma was the captain who would always put the team first and him later. It makes a lot of cricketing sense and again shows how Rohit Sharma is a little different from some of the other captains that we have seen.”

After a promising start, India are struggling at 118-6 on the opening day of the pink-ball Test on Friday.