Indian senior cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara thinks that Indian team should not be messing with the batting lineup for the upcoming second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which is a Day-Night Test, set to begin December 6 in Adelaide.
Indian cricketers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma missed the opening test of the series, but have now joined the squad for the remaining matches. Rohit had missed the match as he was on paternity leave following the birth of his second child. Shubman gill on the other hand, had missed the opening Test as he head injured his thumb when practicing at the WACA stadium.
KL Rahul was the player who replaced Rohit Sharma as he opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal and the duo made a historic partnership of 201 runs and helped the Indian team win the match by 295 runs.
Pujara believes Rohit can bat at No. 3 and Gill should be at No. 5 since he has had a first-hand show of KL Rahul’s performance as an opener in Perth.
“I think, for some reason if we can carry on with the same batting order, like KL and Yashasvi to open, Rohit could come in at three, and Shubman could come in at five,” Pujara said.
“If Rohit wants to open, KL should bat at No. 3. Nothing later than that. I think he has to bat top of the order, because it suits his game really well. I hope we don’t tinker around with that,” he added.
“Ideally No. 5. Because it allows him to come in at a time, even if we lose two wickets early, he is someone who can negotiate the new ball,” Pujara said. “But if he walks in after, say, 25 or 30 overs, he can play his shots. He can play his natural game. And in case we lose the first three wickets early, Gill walks in and saves Rishabh Pant for the old ball. [Pant] doesn’t have to face the new ball. I wouldn’t want him to walk in to bat when the ball is hard and new” he also said.
Indian team is set to play a day-night practice match against the Prime Minister’s XI, set to be held at the Manuka Oval on Saturday and Sunday. he training for the second Test will begin from Friday.
