IND vs AUS: Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri both opined that India captain Rohit Sharma would be best suited to return to his preferred opening slot in the next Test against Australia.
After missing the first Test in Perth and India winning the tat match, Rohit said he did not want to tinker with the winning combination and for the second Test, KL Rahul opened the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal, putting himself at No.6 in Adelaide.
But Rahul failed to capitalize on his good form from Perth, scoring 37 and 7 in two innings in the pink-ball Test. According to experts, Rohit looked ‘overwhelmed’ at number 6 scoring only 3 and 6.
“That’s why I want him at the top. Where he can be aggressive and expressive. Just by looking at his body language, I felt a bit under pressure,” Shastri told ‘Star Sports’.
“The fact that he didn’t score runs, I don’t think there was enough on the ground. I want to see him more engaged and a little more animated,” the former India coach added.
“He should go back to his regular place. We have to remember why Rahul opened. He did it because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test. I understand why they put him as the opener in the second Test, he had a 200-run partnership with Jaiswal. Gavaskar ‘Sports Tak’ Ma said.
“But now that he hasn’t scored in this Test, I think Rahul should go back to No.5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores early, he can score a big century later,’ he added.