New Delhi (Nilesh Tiwari): Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma is likely to open the Boxing Day test match against Australia on December 26 in Melbourne as part of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
According to the media reports, Rohit could be given an opportunity to walk out first and open with Yashasvi Jaiswal on Thursday. KL Rahul could step in for Shubman Gill as the number 3 batter also.
There is no assurance that Shubman Gill will bat at 4. because Dhruv Jurel is likely to replace him in the starting lineup. Shubman Gill, whose last Test fifty outside of India was in 2021, may receive a message from the move, according to reports.
Following the fabulous success of the opening combo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul during the Perth Test victory, Rohit returned to the Adelaide pink-ball Test after missing the first Test in Perth. However, he decided to bat lower in the order.In the current BGT 2024–25, Rohit has not opened for India and has only amassed 19 runs at number six in three innings, with a top score of 10.
But in the 18 Test matches he has played as a number six, Rohit still has an average of 48.00, 1,056 runs, including three hundreds and six fifties. In the last seven Test matches, Rohit has only made 152 runs at a startlingly low average of 11.69, and he has only made one fifty. He has scored 607 runs at a poor average of 26.39 in 24 innings and 13 Test matches in 2024, with two hundreds and two fifties. His top score is 131.
When asked about batting position on Tuesday, Rohit has said, as HT quotes,”Who bats where shouldn’t be a concern. Not something I would be talking about in every press conference here, but something we need to find out. We’ll act in the team’s best interests”.
Australia squad:
Khawaja, Konstas, Labuschagne, Smith, Head, Marsh, Carey (WK), Cummins (C), Starc, Lyon, Boland.
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
