Rohit Sharma urged to take on familiar Australia role and steer clear of 'unnecessary' actions as India faces batting woes

Rohit was unable to travel with the Indian team to Perth as he chose to stay back in Mumbai for the birth of his second child. He later joined the Indian camp during the opening Test and made his first appearance on Sunday in the warm-up match against Australia Prime Minister's XI. Shubman Gill, who missed the first match due to a thumb injury, also played in the Test. Gill showed great form with a brilliant fifty before retiring not-out, making a strong case for a spot in the XI. On the other hand, the 37-year-old Rohit had a tough time in Canberra, as he came in at No. 4 and struggled during his innings.

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Rohit did look cautious against the deliveries outside off, a feature that helped him resurrect his Test career as an opener during the England tour in 2021, before being attacked with a few shorter deliveries. However, his 11-ball stay ended with the delivery down the corridor of uncertainty. After leaving the first from Charlie Anderson, he went chasing after the next and ended up poking the delivery straight to the fielder at first slip.

While it might still be too early to create judgements on Rohit's form, given that the score added to his ongoing struggle in the format after the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, it definitely sparked concerns over his batting position.

‘Rohit should come in at No. 6’

Rohit had left the Indian opening pair undisturbed, allowing KL Rahul to continue his pairing with Yashasvi Jaiswal, after their record 201-run match-winning stand in Perth. The duo responded with a valiant 75-run stand in the warm-up tie.

The India captain, hence, took up the middle-order responsibility, despite not having batted outside the top-order spot since 2018. And while there may be concerns, former national selector Devang Gandhi urged Rohit to stick to the role for the Adelaide Test and avoid "unnecessary chopping and changing."

"In fact, I feel Rohit should come in at No. 6, because Rishabh Pant, too, has shaped up very well at 5…The left-right combo, too, can be maintained that way," Gandhi told Times of India. "It becomes difficult if a middle-order batter tries to become an opener in the latter stages of his career. But it will not be difficult for an opener to go in the middle-order, especially for Rohit, who started as a No. 6 batter for India."

The last time Rohit batted at No. 6 was in the 2018/19 tour of Australia, when he scored 37, 1, 63* and 5 in the two matches in Melbourne and Adelaide.

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