Former India and Karnataka cricketer Dodda Ganesh criticized Jatin Paranjape for supporting Rohit Sharma because he is a Mumbai batter. Paranjape had backed the Indian captain after his poor performance in both innings of the recent Adelaide Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia. Paranjape was confident that the senior batsman would bounce back in the remaining matches of the crucial series.
During an interview with IANS, Jatin Paranjape said,
“I know he’s had a really bad run in the last few Test innings. But I think form is temporary, and class is permanent. I have a very, very good feeling about Rohit Sharma coming good, as let’s not forget that he’s a Mumbai batter.”
However, Dodda Ganesh was not impressed by Jatin Paranjape’s comment referring to Rohit Sharma as a “Mumbai batter.” Criticizing the sense of ‘entitlement,’ the 51-year-old took to social media platform X to express his views.
“What kind of an entitlement is this? Someone can’t [be] good just because he hails from a particular place.”
Rohit Sharma was absent for the first Test in Perth as he was on paternity leave, but he rejoined the team ahead of the second Test. He returned to India’s middle-order after nearly five years, with KL Rahul taking his place as the opener. In the Adelaide pink-ball Test, however, Sharma had a tough time with the bat, managing just three and six runs while batting at No. 6. Australia went on to win the match by a commanding 10-wicket margin, leveling the five-match series 1-1.
“Rohit Sharma should open“- Sunil Gavaskar
Legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar feels that Rohit Sharma should open the batting in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He recommended that KL Rahul should move back to the middle order after failing to make a significant score as an opener in the Adelaide Test.
Gavaskar explained that Rahul was asked to open in the second Test because of his impressive 201-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening match. Believing that having Sharma return to the top order would strengthen Team India, Gavaskar shared his views on Sports Tak.
“He should return to his regular spot. We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test. Now I can understand why they kept KL Rahul as an opener in the second Test, he had a 200-plus partnership with Jaiswal. But now that he couldn’t score this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No. 5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, then he can score a big century also later.”
The third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin at the Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday, December 14.