Despite winning the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, the Indian team remains confused. The big dilemma that surrounds the mind of the Indian team management is the batting order of the side in the second Test match. (Series Guide | More Cricket News)
India won the first Test in Perth by a massive margin of 295 runs and while the bowlers led by Jasprit Bumrah played a starring role, the batters, especially the openers, stood out as well.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul combined for India's best ever opening partnership in Tests Down Under of 201 runs. The massive opening stand laid the foundation of a big second innings score which proved to be too much for the hosts.
Jaiswal smashed 161 after a Duck in the first innings. Rahul, on the other hand, looked good in both the innings getting the scores of 26 and 77. The right-hander looked one of the most assured players on display in the entirety of the Test match.
With captain Rohit Sharma and number three Shubman Gill set to return, India are struggling to find the right combination for the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. Former cricketers have backed Rahul to open or at most go down to number three if Rohit wants his place back as opener. But if Rahul takes the number three spot, Gill will have to move down in the lower middle order.
During the warm-up match ahead of the pink ball Test match, India gave some indication as to what they could do in the Adelaide encounter.
What happened in the warm-up match?
All eyes were on the Indian batting order in their outing against the Prime Minister's XI in Canberra. Surprisingly, Rahul and Jaiswal continued to open and Gill also held on to his usual number three position. It was captain Rohit who demoted himself to number four in the batting order.
Jaiswal scored 45 while Gill raised a half-century and Rahul ended his innings at 27. Rohit could not do much as he could only score three runs before getting out.
If the warm-up encounter was any indication, Rohit could well be batting in the middle order for second Test and perhaps the entire series.
Rohit is no stranger to batting in the middle order. In fact, he began his India career as a middle order batsman in all forms of cricket before moving up to open the innings. In Tests too, the right-hander batted in the middle order since his debut in 2013 till the end of 2018. However, his record in the middle order was not quite impressive and that prompted his move up in the batting unit.
