Former India cricketer has made scathing remarks on the selection of veteran batter and former India skipper Rohit Sharma’s selection in the ODI series against Afghanistan. Not only this, but he has also asked the selection committee to apologise to Yashasvi Jaiswal for his omission from the same. Notably, the Men in Blue will host neighbours in a three-game ODI series following a one-off Test across three venues in the country, starting on June 14. Last week, the selection committee released the squad for the both Tests and limited over format.
While Yashasvi Jaiswal was picked for the Whites, he was dropped for the three-game series, and certainly this didn’t amuse Sanjay Manjrekar. Manjrekar has asked the selection committee and the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, to apologise to Yashasvi Jaiswal for his omission. Not only this, but he was also left baffled with the Agarkar-led committee picking Rohit Sharma despite his questionable form and fitness amid the Indian Premier League 2026.
"Sai Sudharsan has got a couple of 50s in the last set of innings playing at the top of the order for India in ODIs, Yashasvi Jaiswal's last ODI innings was a 116 not out, and these guys are not playing for India. The selectors have gone with a veteran whose fitness is a question mark, and he is clearly out of form. Explain that to me, what is the logic behind that, what is the vision?" Manjrekar said on Sportstar.
"If they were compelled, and had to make a compromise and pick Rohit Sharma for whatever reason, the first thing they have got to do is pick up the phone and apologise to Jaiswal, because this is a young player who has done tremendous things at the toughest level, he is in his prime with a bright future ahead,” he added.
Sanjay Manjrekar backs transformation in ODI squad
The cricketer-turned-commentator thinks this is the right time to introduce transformation in India’s ODI squad. While he acknowledged the significant contribution made by the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Manjrekar feels that names like Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and others are equally capable to yield the same numbers as the legendary batters.
"It cannot be that the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar, believes that this is the right way forward for Indian cricket. I cannot imagine him thinking this is the right way forward. If you are going to focus so much on Rohit and Virat that you are going to ignore all the others, there comes a time where you look at the way forward for Indian cricket. All of these batters like Gill, Kishan, Sudharsan, and Gaiwkad are class. Give them 10 innings, they will give you exactly the same numbers that Virat and Rohit have," Manjrekar was quoted as saying.
Notably, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya’s availability is questionable in the series given their recent injuries they endured during the IPL 2026 campaign.
