Former India voter Devang Gandhi feels this Rohit Sharma was expected to drop to sixth in the batting order in the second Test Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT 2024-25)which starts on Friday, December 6thon Adelaide Oval. The Indian captain batted in the middle during the warm-up match against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra on Sunday but was dismissed for just three runs.
In the first Test in Perth, KL Rahul opened the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rohit was on paternity leave. The talented duo forged a game-winning 201-run partnership in the second innings. They also opened in the warm-up game when Rohit dropped to No.4.
Gandhi suggested that Rohit should be demoted to No. 6 as Rishabh Pant has shown great potential at No. 5. Virat Kohli will return to No. 4 after missing the warm-up game in Canberra. The former India opener said that India can retain the left-right combination if Rohit bats in the middle order. Furthermore, Gandhi also opined that it would be problematic for a middle-order batsman to bat as an opener at the top of the order, but he does not believe the transition would be so difficult if it were the other way round.
“In fact, I think Rohit should go at No. 6 because Rishabh Pant has also done very well at No. 5…The left-right combination can also be maintained in this way,” Gandhi told The Times of India.
“It becomes difficult when a middle-order batter tries to become an opener in the latter stages of his career. But it won't be difficult for an opener to get into the middle order, especially for Rohit, who started as the No. 6 batsman for India,” he further added.
Rohit made his Test debut batting at number six for India
During India's memorable tour of Australia in 2018-19 cricket-players/rohit-sharma/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Rohit Sharma Battled in the Tests at number 6, scoring scores of 37, 1, 63* and 5 in the two matches he played in Melbourne and Adelaide. Rohit began his Test career in the middle order and showed promise, but the biggest criticism was his Tendency to throw away his wicket after good starts. However, he has an exceptional batting record at No. 6, having scored 1,037 runs in 16 matches at an average of 54.57. The 37-year-old's bat has scored three centuries and six half-centuries from this position.
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Rohit hasn't had much success in the red-ball arena of late. In India's last home Test against New Zealand, he scored just 91 runs from six innings. The Nagpur native would be hoping to end his dry spell in the high-voltage series against the mighty Australians.
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