Australia bounced back strongly to rock India in the second Test in Adelaide Test despite humiliating defeat in the series opener in Perth. With this India's hopes of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy took a dent after their crushing 10-wicket defeat in the Day Night match at the Adelaide Oval.
Rohit Sharma to continue batting at no.6 in rest of Border-Gavaskar Trophy series?
India lost the match despite the return of their captain Rohit Sharma, who lead the side after missing the first Test. With Rohit's return India's batting order underwent a major revamp. Instead of opening the innings, Rohit chose to bat at no.6, promoting the successful opening pair from the Perth Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul. However, this strategy did not yield the desired results, as Rohit failed in both innings in India's losing cause.
Following this setback, there have been growing calls to reinstate Rohit Sharma as the opener for rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy matches. In a recent practice session ahead of the crucial third Test in Brisbane, the Indian captain hinted at a potential change in the batting order.
India's batting lineup for the third Test in Brisbane appears to remain unchanged. In the team's first practice session, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal were the first to take the nets, followed by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant. This suggests that Rohit Sharma will continue to bat in the middle order, allowing the opening pair of Jaiswal and Rahul another opportunity to solidify their position.
Rohit's recent form has been a cause for concern. He scored just 3 and 6 in the Adelaide Test, becoming only the third Indian captain to be dismissed for single-digit scores in both innings of a Test match in Australia. The Indian captain is under pressure to regain his form in the longest format of the game, where his performance has been relatively subdued in recent times.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was also toiling hard during the India's nets session. He focused on improving his backfoot play and footwork while playing front-foot shots, an area that has contributed to his recent tendency to edge the ball to the slips. Even Kohli failed to click with the bat in the second Test against Australia as he could only score 7 and 11 in the two innings.
