Rohit Sharma Confirms Batting Order For 2nd Adelaide Test; Settles With This Opening Pair

On the pre-match press conference the day before the start of the second day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, the Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, was asked to confirm their batting order, with him making a comeback in the side after missing the 295-run victory in Perth.

Rohit Sharma was absent from the first Test due to his paternity leave for the birth of his second child. That pushed the management to go with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening pair. The former showed incredible patience in both the innings before the latter joined the party in the following innings.

The 201-run opening stand in the second innings for India saw them soaking the applause from the spectators, the teammates, and even from the opponent side, which raised the question if they would break their opening stand when both their captain and Shubman Gill returned for the second Test.

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Gill missed the previous red-ball game due to a finger injury that he picked during their match-stimulation at the WACA before the Perth Test. But he has recovered and is set to retain his number three position for this affair. That raises another question, whether Rohit Sharma would be pushing himself down in the middle order.

Rohit Sharma to bat ‘somewhere in the middle’ in Adelaide

All eyes were on India’s two-day day-night warm-up contest at the Manuka Oval, where both Rahul and Jaiswal walked out for the opening pair. The former had a very good time before he decided to retire, while Jaiswal was dismissed in an attempt to go for an aggressive shot.

Rohit Sharma walked out at number five in the warm-up fixture and struggled against the pink ball. Rahul faced 74 balls in the first innings, followed by 176 in the second, batting for around seven hours overall. Jaiswal, having collected a duck in the first innings, nailed a memorable 161-run knock in 297 deliveries over 432 minutes in the second.

“He (KL Rahul) will be opening the batting; I’ll bat somewhere in the middle. The partnership with KL & Jaiswal probably won us the Test match – I don’t see we needed to change that – it was pretty easy for me, for the team, it made sense.” The Nagpur-born expressed in the press conference.

Rohit Sharma has earned success at the number six position in the longest format with the help of 1037 runs in 25 innings at an average of 54.58 and a strike rate of around 60 with the help of six half-centuries and three centuries with the best score of 177.

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When he returned to Test cricket and took the opening spot, the spotlight was always on him. But his 2685 runs in 64 innings while opening the batting at an average of 44.02 and a strike rate of around 60, shouldering on nine centuries and eight half-centuries has almost cemented his position.

“We want results, we want success. Those two guys at the top they batted brilliantly in Perth. I was watching from home. Rahul was brilliant to watch. He deserves that place at this point.” Rohit Sharma highlighted in the press conference.

His recent form, 133 runs in ten innings with a best of 52, has been a debate, but he will look to get things sorted. Virat Kohli is expected to come at number four, with Rishabh Pant at five, followed by the Indian captain at number six for the Adelaide Test.