It is official. KL Rahul will keep his opening slot for the Border Gavasksar Trophy and returning Indian captain Rohit Sharma will bat down the order against Australia. The Indian captain's decision to bat down the order in the day/night Test against Australia at Adelaide was revealed by himself on Thursday.
In Rohit Sharma's words, he will "bat somewhere in the middle" and he didn't wish to tinker with a combination that brought the team success in the series opener. Jasprit Bumrah had led India to a 295-run win at Optus Oval in the absence of the 'Hitman'.
Rahul looked solid with scores of 26 and 77 and added 201 runs with fellow opener and centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings of the first Test.
"He (Rahul) will open the innings. I will play somewhere in the middle," Rohit told reporters on the eve of the second Test.
The Indian skipper was both categorical and objective in his reply when asked about his hotly-debated batting slot after returning from a brief paternity break.
Rohit was categorical about his decision to take a step back after opening the innings for five years.
"Those two guys (Jaiswal and Rahul) at the top, just looking at this one Test match, they batted brilliantly. I was at home with my newborn (son Ahaan) in my arms and I was watching how KL batted."
Rohit didn't want to disturb Rahul but also said that the decision is based on current situation.
"It was brilliant to watch, to be honest. And I felt that there is no need to change that now. I don't know, may be in the future, things will be different."
"Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, you know, he probably deserves that place at this point in time. And, you know, it is something that has given us success in the first Test, to have that big partnership with Jaiswal on the other side."
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"You know, when you come here in a place like Perth and you get 500 runs, it's a massive tick to the box. So, I don't see we need to change that.
"But what I saw from the outside looked brilliant. So, and there was no need to change anything. So, it was actually pretty simple for me."
While Rohit waxed eloquence on the 32-year-old Rahul, he didn't want to divulge the details of the conversation he had with the player.
"This is between me and him. It's a personal matter. I can't share it," he said.
