Following India’s historic Test win at Perth, the practice game against the Prime Minister’s XI was going to be a crucial one. India were without Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill at the Optus Stadium. Instead, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings for India, with fans getting an all-new top-order. Now Rohit, who was expected to bat at the top of the order, opted not to. Instead, we saw Rahul-Jaiswal continue their rich vein of form in Canberra.
Rohit Sharma not to bat as opener in 2nd BGT Test?
Rohit, however, joined the Indian team after his paternity leave and hit the nets instantly.. He was expected to slot in back to the opening role, something that even KL Rahul felt in Perth. But the Indian captain threw up a surprise. After India bowled PM XI out for 240, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul walked out to bat and not Rohit Sharma. The Indian captain didn’t tinker with the successful duo of Jaiswal and Rahul. The duo hit an opening stand of 201 runs in the third innings in the opening BGT clash, the highest-ever stand by an Indian opening duo in Australia.
It must be noted that the last time Rohit Sharma batted as a non-opener was way back in 2018. It was also during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In that game, the Hitman made 5 and 63*, helping India clinch the match under Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy.
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This move suggests that Indian management feels it won’t be necessary to disturb the KL Rahul-Jaiswal duo. Simultaneously, it could also be just a one-off, and Rohit plays ‘uno reverse’ on Pat Cummins in Adelaide. Who knows? Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nayar suggested that with Rohit and Gill being available for the second Test, it was a “sweet headache” for the management.
Rohit Sharma batting stats (in Tests)
| Position | Innings (Inns) | Runs | High Score (HS) | Average (Avg) | Strike Rate (SR) | 100s | 50s |
| 1st position | 29 | 1226 | 161 | 43.78 | 53 | 3 | 5 |
| 2nd position | 35 | 1459 | 212 | 44.21 | 65.3 | 6 | 3 |
| 3rd position | 5 | 107 | 53 | 21.4 | 41.63 | 0 | 1 |
| 4th position | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 5th position | 16 | 437 | 79 | 29.13 | 48.55 | 0 | 3 |
| 6th position | 25 | 1037 | 177 | 54.57 | 60.71 | 3 | 6 |
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