'I was watching KL Rahul bat with baby in my arms': Rohit Sharma ends speculation on where he'll bat in Adelaide Test
India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed where he and KL Rahul will bat against Australia in the pink-ball day-night Test match at Adelaide.
The cat is out of the bag. India captain Rohit Sharma ended all speculations and assumptions, confirming that KL Rahul will indeed open for India in the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide starting Friday. The decision means that Rohit slots into the middle order. Where? We don't know. But as of now, Rohit will likely return to where he began his Test career 11 years ago – either No. 5 or 6 – while Rahul holds on to the position at the top of the order. Less than 24 hours ago, Rahul said he had been asked not to share his batting position with anyone and that those curious would have to wait for the first ball of the Indian innings to find out. However, Rohit revealed the decision on the eve of the Test match, and honestly, it's no surprise.
Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal tasted tremendous success in the second innings of the Perth Test, adding a record 201-run partnership – the highest by an Indian opening pair in Australia. While Jaiswal made most of the noise with his knock of 161, Rahul's steady innings off 77 – and an equally important 26 in the first dig – went a long way in setting India a target of 534 runs, which they fell short of by 295 runs. Hence, even with Rohit back, it was an easy decision to make.
"He [Rahul] will be opening the batting; I will bat somewhere in the middle," Rohit said on Thursday. "How I came to that decision of batting down the order is clear. We want results; we want success. And those two guys at the top, just by looking at this one Test match, they batted brilliantly. I was at home with my new-born in my arms and I was watching how KL Rahul batted, it was brilliant to watch to be honest. And I felt that there is no need to change that now; maybe in the future things will be different. I don't know."
Rohit Sharma's numbers in the middle order
The pink-ball Test will mark the first time Rohit will bat in the middle order for India in over six years. Since being promoted to open after an uber-successful World Cup in 2019, Rohit owned that slot with a string of impressive performances. He began with scores of 176 and 212 against South Africa in the home series and added five more centuries, including his maiden ton overseas – 127 against England at The Oval. He clearly has scored more runs opening (2685 runs at an average of 44.01) compared to batting at either No. 5 or 6 (1474 averaging 43.35).
As for Rahul, his career seems to have come full cycle as 10 years ago, it was here in Australia that he began his Test career for India… as an opener. He has been shuffled up and down the middle across formats and seems to have found his footing at the top. There are no guarantees how long India will persist with this combination of Rahil and Jaiswal, but Rohit wants to live in the present, and if that means pushing Rahul to take up his slot, then be it.
"Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, he probably deserves that place and this point in time. It is something that has given us success in the first Test to have that big partnership with Jaiswal on the other side. When you come to a place like Perth and get 500 runs, it's a big tick on the box. I don't see why we need to change that but what I saw from the outside looked brilliant and there was no need to change anything. Personally, not easy but for the team it made a lot of sense," the captain added.
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