Rohit Sharma heeds Gavaskar and Shastri's advice, suggests comeback as opener for 3rd Australia Test

According to 7news.com.au, struggling Rohit, who recently moved down to No.6 in the batting order for India, focused on facing the new ball during the team's first training session in Brisbane. The squad landed in Brisbane on Wednesday, following a practice session at the Adelaide Oval on Monday after the conclusion of the second Test.

Initially, the training session hinted at India sticking to their ongoing opening combination of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the third Test as the pair started in the nets while Rohit kept himself busy in slips training. But after a short while, he replaced Rahul in the nets and faced the new ball against Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep, which he did not do in the lead-up to the previous Test.

Later, Rahul returned to the nets for another stretch of batting session, facing the semi new ball alongside Virat Kohli.

Rohit should have ideally opened in Adelaide, but the team management, including him, decided not to disturb the opening pair of Rahul and Jaiswal, who had stitched a record 201-run match-winning stand in the Perth Test. Moreover, Rahul had finally found his groove, scoring a valiant 77 in that match. Hence, Rohit batted at No. 6 for India in the second Test, but returned with scores of just 3 and 6. It added to his miserable run, wherein he went past 20 just twice in his last 12 innings in the format.

Following the Adelaide Test, Shastri wanted Rohit to come back as an opener at the Gabba as he reckoned he looked too subdued in the middle-order.

"That's the reason I want him at the top. That's where he can be aggressive and expressive. Just thought he was a little too subdued, just seeing his body language," Shastri told the broadcasters.

Gavaskar echoed the sentiment, reminding that Rahul would have batted at No. 6 had Rohit played in Perth.

“He should return to his regular spot. We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test. I can understand why they kept him as an opener in the second Test, he had a 200-plus partnership with Jaiswal.” he said on ‘Sports Talk’.

“But now that he couldn’t score this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No. 5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, then he can score a big century also later,” he added.