India are set to opt for a batting-order overhaul in the Boxing Day Test as captain Rohit Sharma is likely to get back to opening the batting. Multiple media reports suggested that Rohit will walk out to open the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the MCG in Melbourne on Thursday. The reports also suggest that KL Rahul will bat at No.3 in place of Shubman Gill, who will slide down the order.
The move could also send a message to Shubman Gill, whose last Test fifty outside India came way back in 2021.
So far in the series, Rohit has had horrid outings in the middle order. Returning to the team for the Adelaide pink-ball Test, he batted bat down the order due to the immense success of the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul during the Perth Test win. On his return, Rohit could score just 19 runs in three innings at number six, with best score of 10. Despite this, though, he still has an average of 48.00 in 18 Tests he has played as a number six, with 1,056 runs and three centuries/six fifties.
In the ongoing Test season, which started with the home Bangladesh series, Rohit has scored only 152 runs in seven games at an alarmingly low average of 11.69, with just one fifty to his name. This year, he has made 607 runs in 13 Tests and 24 innings at a sub-par average of 26.39, with two centuries and two fifties. His best score is 131.
Since taking up opening in 2019, Rohit has been one of India’s top-performing stars in whites. In 42 Tests as an opener, Rohit has scored 2,685 runs in 64 innings at an average of 44.01, with nine centuries and eight fifties to his name. His best score is 212. He has been India’s top performer in the history of the ICC World Test Championship, with 2704 runs at an average of 42.25, with nine centuries and eight fifties in 39 Tests and 67 innings.
“Let’s not worry about who bats where. Something that we need to figure and not something I would be discussing here. We will do what is best for the team,” Rohit had said on Tuesday when asked about his batting position.
Washington Sundar likely to return to India XI
As far as the bowling line-up is concerned, all-rounder Washington Sundar may come into the picture, whether it is in place of seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Reddy, who has been one of India’s most consistent batters in the series or in place of Akash Deep, remains to be seen.
With the series level at 1-1, both sides will be playing the much-anticipated Boxing Day Test intending to secure an all-important series lead needed to push a case for the ICC World Test Championship final.
