Former South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs wants India cricket team captain Rohit Sharma to return to the role of opener in IND vs AUS 4th Test in Melbourne. The Hitman has been batting in the middle-order in the last two Tests where he has failed consistently. With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy currently poised at 1-1, the Boxing Day Test is a must-win game for India in order to keep their hopes of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and making it to World Test Championship (WTC) final alive.
Gibbs wants Rohit Sharma to open in IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test
In an exclusive interview with Insidesport on the sidelines of Big Cricket League, Gibbs reckoned that Rohit Sharma should return to familiar territory in the contest at the MCG.
“I think he is more comfortable opening the batting. If we were to ask him that question , to be honest, I think he would say ‘yes I would like to open’. Opening is such an important part, especially in must-win games and series as big as this one (BGT). He’s made his runs as an opener. You would maybe think of switching and ask him to open,” Gibbs said.
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Rohit Sharma returned to batting in the middle-order after six long years. He last batted at number 6 in 2018 and since then went on to become India’s first-choice opener across formats. However, the Hitman tasted very little success while batting down the order, registering scores of 3, 6 and 10 in three innings. The team decided to stick with the opening combo of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal after they tasted success during India’s mammoth 295-run win in IND vs AUS 1st Test in Perth.
In Batting Position
| Position | Span | Mat | Runs | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2021-2024 | 18 | 1226 | 43.78 |
| 2nd | 2019-2024 | 24 | 1459 | 44.21 |
| 6th | 2013-2024 | 18 | 1056 | 48.00 |
Further, Gibbs pointed out that KL Rahul had looked much more comfortable than the rest of the Indian batters in the ongoing IND vs AUS Test series. However, the ex-South African cricketer said that he would rather prefer Rohit Sharma opening with Jaiswal instead of KL Rahul at the top for the must-win contest.
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