Rohit Sharma to open in IND vs AUS 3rd Test? Sunil Gavaskar explains why India captain should return at the top

Rohit Sharma to open in IND vs AUS 3rd Test? Sunil Gavaskar explains why India captain should return at the top

Rohit Sharma’s idea of sticking with the opening pair of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second Test against Australia backfired as the Indian team suffered a huge 10-wicket loss inside three days. India’s loss, not only helped Australia to square the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 1-1, but also forced the Rohit Sharma-led side to slip down to third in the updated World Test Championship (WTC) table.

Rohit‘s decision to go with Rahul-Jaiswal pair in Adelaide came after the duo’s success in Perth where they put on 201 runs in the second innings, en route to India’s mammoth 295-run win. Notably, Rohit was unavailable in Perth as joined the team late due to the birth of his boy.

With the Rahul-Jaiswal duo accumulating only 68 runs in Adelaide, the biggest question is, will Rohit return to his original position as an opener? In Adelaide, Rohit managed 3 and 6. If records are to be considered, Rohit’s success in Test cricket came while opening the batting. Similar is the case with Rahul.

However, Rahul was moved to the middle order in recent years, after the emergence of Jaiswal and Shubman Gill at the top of the order. However, with the series on the line, Rohit faces a major headache as far as the Indian batting order is concerned in Brisbane.

Why Rohit Sharma needs to bat at the top?

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar explained why Rohit should return at the top of the order with Jaiswal. “He should return to his regular spot. We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying to Sports Tak from Australia.

Pointing out the positives, the 75-year-old, who had become the first batter to reach 10000 Test runs, stated opening the batting for India give Rohit an added advantage.

“Now I can understand why they kept him as an opener in the second Test, he had a 200-plus partnership with Jaiswal. But now that he couldn’t score this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No. 5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, then he can score a big century also later,” added Gavaskar.

Rohit-Rahul’s middle-order batting stats in Tests

Having made his Test debut in 2013, Rohit’s career got a major push when he started opening the batting from 2018. The Indian captain has scored 2685 runs (42 matches) while batting in top two and 1594 runs (31 games) outside of top two. For Rahul, the stylish right hander scored 2698 runs (51 matches) in top two and 430 runs (11 games) while batting outside of top two.

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