NEW DELHI: It’s a tricky one for India. Rohit Sharma is available to resume opening the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal, but KL Rahul dug in hard as an opener in Perth to find form and make a difference. Should then the skipper accommodate himself in his usual position, or follow the don’t-mend-what-is-not-broken theory and let what’s working, work?
It’s hard to not look back at that 36 all out in the pink-ball Test four Australian summer agos, when you are heading to the same venue to face similar music under lights. The absence of Josh Hazlewood, who broke India’s back while hunting in a pair with Pat Cummins during that December evening of 2020, can’t be taken as a discount. India will still have Mitchell Starc and Cummins breathing down their neck.

Rohit wasn’t part of that eleven when Virat Kohli was the team’s captain; and he would now want to lead from the front, especially when India have the momentum after winning the opening Test in Perth and a place in the World Test Championship final hinging on this five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Rohit got his first feel of Australian conditions under lights against the pink ball in the warm-up game against the Australian PM’s XI, where he didn’t open and let Rahul and Jaiswal continue as openers. Is that a sign of things to come in Adelaide or a bluff played by Rohit? Time will tell. But Rahul and Jaiswal, who stitched 201-run partnership in the second innings of the Perth Test, did their chances no harm with a solid 75-run stand after negotiating the initial threat from Scott Boland, who is likely to replace the injured Hazlewood in Australia’s XI at the Adelaide Oval.
Rohit came out to bat at No. 4 and lasted only 11 balls, scoring just 3. In six Test innings before that, against New Zealand at home, Rohit aggregated just 91 runs.
Conclusions drawn from the above point towards not dislodging Rahul as an opener for Adelaide, which would mean Rohit batting in the middle order. And there are reasons why India should take that path.

THE PINK-BALL DANGER
Batting under the lights in Australia as an opener is in itself a challenge, and the pink ball makes it that much tougher. On top of that, if the batter doesn’t have runs under his belt lately, which is the case with Rohit, the confidence is shaken. In that scenario, if you have two openers who have been doing the job in such challenging conditions, it’s better to let them continue rather than disturb the team combination.
That in no way questions Rohit’s skills or his ability to return to form as an opener. It’s just the need of the hour.
RAHUL BACK IN FORM
India put their trust in out-of-form Rahul to pick him in the squad for Australia. He repaid that faith with his good show in the first Test and is now looking more assured against the Australia pacers. In a long series like this, teams are always looking for batters who are in form and confident.
Rahul has started in that fashion with a total of 103 runs (26 and 77) in his two innings at Perth. Not to forget he consumed 250 balls in scoring that runs, doing the job that Cheteshwar Pujara did during India’s back-to-back Test triumphs in Australia on the last two tours.
If Rahul can do a Pujara for most of this series, India can’t ask for more.
ROHIT MUST PLAY THE WAITING GAME TO FIND TOUCH
Many former players have pointed out the fact that Rohit’s immediate instinct when put under pressure is to attack, which can work in white-ball cricket but is a dangerous option when it comes to Tests. His attacking short-format instincts as an opener is possibly why the skipper is finding that much harder to switch to a more controlled approach in order to rediscover his form against the red ball.
It could, thus, be a blessing in disguise for Rohit to bide his time in the middle order, where he can play the waiting game and find the middle of his bat by milking the bowlers.