AUS vs IND: Rohit Sharma confirms KL Rahul to open in Adelaide Test

India captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed to bat at the middle order in the second Test against Australia in Adelaide, slated to begin on December 6. He noted that the partnership of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal has done well in the opening game in Perth and for the same reason, he doesn’t want to alter that. Notably, Jaiswal and Rahul stitched a brilliant 201-run opening partnership in the first Test, which helped the visitors pick up a massive 295-run victory.

Leading to the second Test, there were speculations of Rohit getting back to opening and Rahul can move back to number six, where he played the most in the last couple of years. However, in the warm-up game against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra, Rahul opened and Rohit batted at number four instead of Virat Kohli. That was the first indication of India considering the captain to bat in the middle order and Rohit confirmed the development on the eve of the second Test.

“Yeah, KL Rahul will be opening the batting. I will be batting somewhere in the middle. Way KL batted, I was watching from home with a newborn baby on my arms, he played brilliantly so there is no need to change now, things might be different in future – the way KL bats in overseas, he deserves that spot at this point of time,” Rohit said in the press conference.

The captain also added that it was not an easy decision for him as he hasn’t batted there in a long time but is ready to do it for the team.

“The partnership with KL & Jaiswal probably won us the Test match – I don’t see we needed to change that – it was pretty easy for me, and for the team it made sense,” Rohit added.