Couple of days after India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja responded shockingly to an assessment of his game from ex-cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar, opening batsman Rohit Sharma weighed in over the matter and without taking any sides, said the outburst from Jadeja was individualistic and doesn't reflect the team's stance on Manjrekar's views.
Manjrekar had called Jadeja a "bits and pieces cricketer", before the player himself took to Twitter and wrote; "Still i have played twice the number of matches you have played and i m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea.@sanjaymanjrekar"
Now Rohit, on Saturday (July 6), following India's last league game of the ongoing World Cup against Sri Lanka in Leeds, told reporters, "See, that's the challenge for the sportsman. All this distraction will happen, but every individual is different, and it depends on how he wants to think about that particular incident or situation. For me, like I said just now, I want to stay away from all of that and enjoy the beautiful weather in England."
"I have my family here as well. So most of the time I'm trying to do that rather than all those talks going around and things like that. Because as long as you're playing, that will happen. And we have to have a logistic manager because a lot of people are staying in the same hotel as us who want us to win the World Cup, who want us to score runs, score centuries."
"So you kind of want to stay away from all of that because eventually our job is to do that, our job is to come here, play good cricket and win the World Cup, we all know that. But constantly yapping in anyone's ear is not right. So I think for us as cricketers, it's important to focus on the job at hand," Rohit added.
Jadeja played his first game of the tournament and contributed a fine spell of 1/40 in India's seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka. And, while the proceedings were being called behind the mic, received words of praise from Manjrekar, who hailed him as a very "street-smart cricketer".
(Inputs from IANS)
