India captain Rohit Sharma, widely regarded as one of the world’s most selfless cricketers, has been accused of putting his interests ahead of the team’s during the loss to Australia in Melbourne. Rohit along with the team management decided to drop Shubman Gill from the team and relegate KL Rahul to the third spot. The changes were made to help Rohit open up for the side again. However, the said changes backfired as both Rohit and Rahul did not feature at MCG.

When Rahul came for the 4th Test against Australia, he seemed to be the best batsman in the team. But the changes seemed to have disrupted his rhythm and Rohit himself also failed to give India a fiery start at the top in both innings. Rohit is now being criticized for his selfish behavior which only served his self-interest and not that of the team.

“For the first time in his career he took a call for himself. Calls have been answered on his behalf in the past. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli took calls for him to move him from middle order to opener. Dhoni did.” “ODIs Virat did in Tests because they wanted Rohit to shoot,” said former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra on his YouTube show.

“For the first time, captain Rohit took a call and it was completely in his interest. It wasn’t in the team’s interest. Let’s be completely honest. It can’t be in the interest of the team because Rahul opened very well.” Shubman Gill He did well in 2023, he also played in difficult situations but he had to be dropped from the team.

A number of former Indian cricketers, including Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar, wanted Rohit not to disrupt the opening combination of KL Rahul-Yashasvi Jaiswal, but the captain opted for it anyway. The move also left no room for Shubman Gill in the team, despite the batsman being one of India’s top scorers this year.

“It’s all because Rohit was thinking about himself and not the best interest of the team. For the first time in his captaincy career. It didn’t go well. India couldn’t get a draw,” Chopra further said.

Chopra has also asked Rohit to consider dropping him from the starting XI against Australia in Sydney to bring a more balanced XI to the team sheet.

“For the sake of the team, will he not take part in the Sydney Test? I’m not saying he’s retiring, I’m saying he’s coming forward for the Sydney Test and saying, ‘I’m not in a position to contribute. Okay, let Rahul open the batting, let Shubman Gill bat at No. 3 and let’s play Nitish at No. 6. But will he take it, I will tell you why cricketers don’t accept such calls. “Every cricketer believes that whole life must have taught him/her one thing: we can bounce back. Maybe Rohit Sharma thinks so.”

“Will the selectors take this call in the middle of the tour? Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar guys, this time you are there,” he added.