Indian captain Rohit Sharma sacrificed his opening spot for KL Rahul who proved his mettle in the Perth Test helping India make a comeback with his half-century in the second innings. While Rahul has been impressive with two half-centuries so far, Rohit has been struggling in the middle order. Ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Rohit is yet to take a call on his batting position.
"Let's not worry about that. I think 'who bats where?' is something that we need to figure out within ourselves. It's not something I should be discussing at every press conference. Whatever it takes for our team to look good or gives the best chance to succeed, we will do that," Rohit said in the pre-match press conference on December 24.
Rohit also provided an update on his fitness as he was hit on the knee while batting in the nets on practice wickets that were meant for white-ball cricket. Rohit got immediate medical attention from the physio.
"Knee is fine. Nothing has changed since last I spoke. We had two sessions, what can change? I think those pitches which we trained (on), they are used pitches. Today is the only day we are going to get fresher wickets. (We) Will go and see how it is and train accordingly," Rohit said.
Rahul regains form
Rahul was hit on the finger in the nets as well but there is no injury concern. The opener is India's highest run-scorer in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He has scored 235 runs from six innings including two half-centuries. The century is eluded him on both occassions.
Rohit struggles for form
Meanwhile, Rohit has struggled in the middle order, struggling against the Australian pacers. Since joining the team after missing the Perth Test, he has scored 19 runs from three innings. He was unimpressive in the pink-ball warm-up game as well which was reduced to One-Day game due to rain on first day.