Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy which is being played at the iconic Adelaide Oval, on December 6 (Friday). The Indian cricket team was coming into this match riding on the historic win in the Perth Test. Rohit has decided to bat in the middle order and let KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal open for India.
Indian captain on batting in the middle order
Indian captain Rohit Sharma spoke about the challenge of batting in the middle order. Rohit batted at number six during the 2018–19 tour of Australia, scoring 37, 1, 63*, and 5 in the two games played in Melbourne and Adelaide. He will again be coming down the order after 6 years.
"We are going to bat first. Looks a good pitch, looks a bit dry at the moment, enough grass covering as well. It'll have some carry for the fast bowlers. As the game goes on, it'll get better to bat on. There will be something in it for everyone. It's going to be a good game. I have been here for two weeks now. Had a good hit in the nets, played a game as well, ready to go now. (Mood in the dressing room) It is pretty good, pretty vibrant. We've played a really good Test match in Perth, it was superb to watch from the outside. What the boys did was superb," said Rohit Sharma at the toss.
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"It's just about carrying that into this Test match. It's a long series, we just want to focus on how we can get the results in our favour, we'll try and do most things right in this game. I am happy, the fast bowlers are happy as well (with the break). The breaks are welcome. Momentum is also important. We want to carry from where we left. We have made 3 changes. I am back, Gill is back. Ashwin is back. I am batting in the middle order which is different, but I am ready for the challenge,"
IND vs AUS Playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland