Rohit Sharma interview: Ex-cricketer reminds India captain ‘to respect the hierarchy’, says 'playing for India is not…'

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar sent a strong message to the current batch of players, stating one has to respect the hierarchy in Indian cricket and can't decide his own 'future'. Manjrekar's comments come in after Rohit Sharma's remarks on retirement in a interview recently during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney.

The unfiltered interview of Rohit on the final day of the fifth Test created quite a buzz. After making himself unavailable from the Indian playing XI, the captain came out in public to deny all rumours in regards to his retirement and informed that he 'stood down' by himself owing to poor form and largely on Indian team's interest.

Following his barren run with the bat (31 runs in three Tests) in Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, retirement calls got a bit louder for Rohit with legends like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar stating they won't be surprised if the Mumbai batter calls it quits in Sydney.

In the interview, Rohit said people with mic, or a laptop or a pen, can't decide when they should go (retire), not play, sit outside and lead a side. This didn't go well with Manjrekar as he highlighted the hierarchy.

“One thing that a lot of players say is that ‘I will decide my future’. I have a problem with that. You can decide your future with regards to retirement, but somebody else has got the job to decide your future as a player and captain,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.

Manjrekar pointed out there is a chairman of selectors and one should respect the position. "That's the chairman of selectors. You have got to respect the hierarchy, however big you are.

"If the chairman of selectors is strong and he believes in the long-term health of Indian cricket, he has the power to decide whether your career should end now, or you get a few more matches, or one more series. Retirement is in your hands, but playing for India is not," he explained.

Gambhir was getting all the credit: Manjrekar

Manjrekar also felt Rohit's interview was an attempt to save his image as a selfless captain as everyone gave head coach Gautam Gambhir credit for benching the Indian skipper.

"But there was also another reason why he was doing that interview. To clear the air. Somewhere I think Gambhir was getting all the credit for a brave call by leaving Rohit Sharma out. He wanted to set the record straight. Let's be honest. I loved that interview. But there were some other emotions, too," Manjrekar added