I noticed that there is a slight jerkiness in the car when accelerating after slight braking Transmission Related?

I bought a used car 7 months ago. Absolutely fine until one day I noticed that there is a slight jerkiness in the car when accelerating after slight braking especially on a speed breaker. Got it checked up at Ford authorized center. They said it's a problem with the clutch and that it's rusted. Didn't get it changed. Continued to drive with the occasional jerkiness especially after braking on speed breakers. Went for a long drive to the mountains. Hardly any gradient but with 4 people the car didn't pull very well up slopes. Therefore, put the car on S which is a manual mode and drove on 1st gear on most slopes. I had a comfortable drive back for almost 300 km. Parked the car. Slept. Started the car the next morning. Error code transmission failure displayed on screen. Took the car to the service centre. They said ABS cable chewn by rats and hence sensor malfunction. Hard to believe. Meanwhile the agency from which I bought the car say that they provide warranty only on engine and transmission. Since clutch is not part of either, they cannot help. My question is, can a rusted clutch cause jerkiness? It only happens at slow RPM. Does Ford Ecosport 2017 b models and earlier have a clutch problem wherein small puddles of rain water can cause rusting in the clutch assembly.