Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has called for a rejig in the Indian batting order for the second innings of ongoing Boxing Day Test against Australia.
According to Manjrekar, KL Rahul should open the innings and Rohit Sharma should drop to No.3 as the visitors are set to chase a target close to 350 at the MCG.
Notably, Rohit is struggling for runs in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The 37-year-old missed the series opener in Perth due to the birth of his second child. He returned to lead the side in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval, but failed to make a mark with the bat.
Rohit moved down the order to retain the successful opening partnership of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, the decision backfired as he managed to score just nine runs across the two innings in Adelaide.
During the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba, the Indian captain continued to bat at No. 6 and scored only 10 runs in the only innings that he played. Despite his return to the opening spot in the ongoing Boxing Day Test at MCG, Rohit’s lean patch continued as he fell for just 3 runs in the first innings.
On the other hand, Rahul returned with scores of 26, 77, 37, 7, 84 and 4* in the first three Tests as an opener. He made 24 in the first innings of Melbourne Test while batting at No. 3.
“Ideally, you would want KL Rahul back at the top because it’s important to have an opening start. With the kind of form Rohit Sharma has been in, you are hoping against hope that he has another long innings under his belt. Rahul at the top restores a little more confidence, and it’s been a successful opening pair in the series. That could happen and No.3 for Rohit may not be too different from batting at the top of the order,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
The hosts were 228/9 at the close of play on Day 4, thanks to Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon’s unbeaten 55-run stand for the last wicket. Australia’s lead of 333 already means that India will have to record the highest successful run-chase at the MCG in Test cricket when they come out to bat.
Manjrekar also opined that the Aussies are likely to find it tough to get rid of Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar when the Kookaburra ball becomes old and soft.
“But the real dangerman apart from the top four are people like Pant, who is used to playing a great innings. As the Kookaburra ball gets soft, you have got three guys Australia will find it tough to get out. Jadeja, Reddy and Sundar. With the Indian batting running deep and with a soft Kookaburra ball, Australia will have to bowl really well to clean up the entire Indian batting lineup,” he remarked.
