Rahul will open, I will bat somewhere in the middle-order, says skipper Rohit

Rohit Sharma discusses middle-order batting, opening combination, and team selection for upcoming Test matches in Australia.

Rohit Sharma had a half-smile when asked about batting in the middle-order in the Canberra game against the Prime Minister’s XI. This was a teaser aimed at getting a breaking-news quote from the Indian captain. “We were just looking at getting some time against the pink ball,” he said with a straight face as the press-conference warmed up at the Adelaide Oval here on Thursday.

A few minutes later, he was directly asked about the opening combination for the second Test and this time he was quick: “K.L. Rahul will open, I will bat somewhere in the middle-order.”

The statement of the day had arrived and he explained the rationale behind this batting rejig: “These two guys (Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal) batted brilliantly. I was at home with my new-born in my arms and I was watching how KL (Rahul) batted. It was brilliant to watch, and I felt that there is no need to change that (opening combination) now. But yes personally it was not easy but for the team, this (decision) made sense.”

Not an easy decision

Asked about the omission of R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the first Test at Perth, Rohit explained: “It is never an easy decision. These two guys have won many matches for us. The idea is to pick the team based on what is needed and that is what we will do through this series.” And about the conditions, Rohit added: “We have watched a lot of games that have been played here and we do understand what the conditions have to offer.”

The Indian skipper also praised Jaiswal and debutants Harshit Rana and Nitish Kumar. “This young generation has no apprehensions. They just want to win games,” Rohit said besides hoping that Washington Sundar will remain injury-free and grow in his career.