Rohit Sharma’s return to the Indian team after a short break due to paternal leave was a short one. He has missed the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024) in Perth against Australia as he and Ritika were blessed with their second child, a baby boy.
He spent some time with the newborn and his family before joining the Indian team mid-way in the Perth Test, which India won by 295 runs in the end under the captaincy of Jasprit Bumrah.
Many were curious how the Indian captainwouldl adjust to the Australian conditions and the answer they got wasn’t pretty.
India is playing a limited-overs against PM XI on the second day of what should’ve been a two-day practice game under lights with a pink ball in Canberra. However, with the first day’s play rained out, India and PM XI decided to play a 50-overs per-side game instead.
PM XI was asked to bat first by Rohit Sharma and they posted 240 inside 50 overs with Sam Konstas scoring 107 and Hanno Jacobs making 61 runs. For India, Harshit Rana excelled with 4/44, while Akash Deep took 2 wickets.
In reply, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings, with Rohit Sharma slated at no.4 spot. Jaiswal made 45, while KL Rahul retired not out on 27 runs. Rohit Sharma walked out after Rahul retired and there were huge expectations from the Indian captain.
Rohit is coming off a poor series against New Zealand at home, scoring 91 runs in six innings with just one fifty to his name. With India losing to New Zealand 0-3 in the three-Test series, there is added pressure on Rohit as captain as well.
Batting at no.4 was a new experiment for Rohit Sharma, as Virat Kohli was not included in the Indian lineup. But the experiment backfired as the Indian captain was dismissed cheaply for just 3 runs.
Pacer Charlie Anderson bowled a back-of-a-length delivery outside off, and Rohit’s attempt to drive the ball resulted in an outside edge, which was safely caught by Oliver Davies at first slip.
There is still a question whether Rohit Sharma will open for India in the Adelaide Test or not. Especially after KL Rahul and Jaiswal’s 201-ruin partnership in the Perth Test, which set the stage for India’s brilliant win from comeback.
