India skipper Rohit Sharma returned to the playing XI for the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Adelaide, but failed to make a mark with the bat.
Rohit missed the first Test in Perth due to paternity leave. In his absence, KL Rahul opened the innings along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair of Rahul and Jaiswal stitched a double-century stand as openers in Perth’s second innings to set up India’s 295-run victory, making a strong case to retain their partnership.
While it might be a temporary measure, Rohit moved down to No. 6 for the pink-ball Test and allowed Rahul to bat at the top. However, the move backfired in the first innings as the Indian captain was dismissed for 3 off 23 balls.
Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting weren't on the same page over Rohit Sharma's batting position in the day-night Test.
Rohit has been an opener in the longest format since 2019. While Gavaskar felt the Indian captain made the right call to come back to middle-order, Ponting disagreed.
“The previous Test, you have a 200-run partnership between Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. You don't want to break that, they have that momentum and confidence. Besides, Rohit Sharma hasn't played any serious cricket for more than a month, the last time he played for India was November 3, we are at December 6,” Gavaskar said on 7Cricket.
“Clearly, it was required that he would be able to see what was happening, pink ball isn't easy to play, India hasn't played pink-ball test in maybe 2-3 years, so dropping himself down the order was, to me, a correct move,” he added.
On the other hand, Ponting suggested that Rohit could be spending the rest of his Test career in the middle-order, with slots unlikely to be freed in the top-order.
“I actually disagree with what Sunny said. I feel he should've come back in the side and open the batting. KL Rahul has been a fringe player around this team for a number of years. Yes, he got his chance and he played in Perth. But what it seems to be now is that Rohit Sharma is going to spend the rest of his career down the order because KL Rahul has played well, Shubman Gill looked good in the first innings, so he looks certain. The only spot for Rohit Sharma in the side now is no.6 and that might be where he stays for the rest of his career,” Ponting said.
“He is a class player, although his record isn't that good against Australia. I think he has only made one century against Australia. The captain coming back in, and batting in the middle, was a bit of an eye opener, but those are the decisions that a captain has to make,” he further remarked.
