Indian skipper Rohit Sharma missed the Perth Test as he was on paternity leave. In his absence, KL Rahul was promoted up the order and scored a crucial half-century with Yashasvi Jaiswal. When Rohit joined the squad for pink-ball Test, he chose to bat in the middle order. In the first innings of the Adelaide Test, Rahul could not convert a start into a big score whereas Rohit was dismissed cheaply. Rohit's move did not impress former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has he disagreed with Sunil Gavaskar who praised the Indian captain for the same.
“I actually disagree with what Sunny said. I feel he should've come back in the side and open the batting. KL Rahul has been a fringe player around this team for a number of years. Yes, he got his chance and he played in Perth. But what it seems to be now is that Rohit Sharma is going to spend the rest of his career down the order Because KL Rahul has played well, Shubman Gill looked good in the first innings, so he looks certain. The only spot for Rohit Sharma in the side now is no.6 and that might be where he stays for the rest of his career,” Ponting told 7Cricket before the start of play on Day 2.
Ponting pointed out that Rohit's numbers in Australia are not great but his decision to bat in the middle order surprised him.
“He is a class player, although his record isn't that good against Australia. I think he has only made one century against Australia. The captain coming back in, and batting in the middle, was a bit of an eye opener, but those are the decisions that a captain has to make,” Ponting added.
Gavaskar on Rohit not opting to open
On the other hand, Gavaskar said that since Rohit had been away from the game for over a month and Rahul, Jaiswal had a 200-run partnership, it was a good move from Rohit.
“The previous Test, you have a 200-run partnership between Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. You don't want to break that, they have that momentum and confidence. Besides, Rohit Sharma hasn't played any serious cricket for more than a month, the last time he played for India was November 3, we are at December 6,” Gavaskar said.
“Clearly, it was required that he would be able to see what was happening, pink ball isn't easy to play, India hasn't played pink-ball test in maybe 2-3 years, so dropping himself down the order was, to me, a correct move,” he added.
