Hitman 3.0: Rohit Sharma gears up for Adelaide Test | Cricket News – Times of India

India skipper Rohit bats at No. 4 in pink-ball warm-up, possibly heeding call of the hour for Adelaide Test
As India were getting ready to go out to bat against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Sunday, all eyes were on the openers. Would it be Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, makeshift duo which brilliantly settled in Perth, or would it be the returning captain, Rohit Sharma?
Rohit’s recent struggle at the top of the order has been well-documented – he managed only 91 in the six innings that he played against New Zealand in India less than a month ago. More importantly, four of those dismissals came against pacers facing the new ball on spin-friendly surfaces.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rahul, on the other hand, had beautifully blunted the new ball in Perth and cricket fans were keen to see whether the captain, who is known to be extremely flexible for the team’s cause, would be ready to demote himself.
Rohit did just that and if this is anything to go by, we may well see Rohit 3.0 – back at the middle-order for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide starting Friday.
With Shubman Gill returning fit from his finger injury and batting beautifully for 50 before retiring out, it appears the top 4 for India in Adelaide will be Rahul, Jaiswal, Gill and Virat Kohli.

On Sunday though, after Rahul retired out for 27, Rohit came in at No. 4. He looked rusty, lasted just 11 balls before nicking one to the ‘keeper off medium-pacer Charlie Anderson. It didn’t stop India from winning easily by five wickets, but it was obvious that the captain still needed some time in the middle.
But the decision to demote himself – if he does for Adelaide, that is -at this stage of his career will be a big move, considering that most of his success with the bat has come as opener.
Rohit started his Test career in Kolkata as a No. 6 against West Indies and scored a sparkling 177 on debut. But over the years, he lost his way in the middle-order, and according to himself, when the offer to open in Tests came in 2019, he knew it would be his last chance.
“When I was asked to open in 2019 (in Vizag against South Africa), I knew this would be my last chance to resurrect my Test career,” Rohit had later said after scoring a century.

As an opener, with nine centuries in 37 Tests at an average of 44.01, it does look significantly better than his returns in the middle-order, where he averages 39.02. That said, this season he has truly struggled against the moving ball and his ability to leave a lot of deliveries outside the offstump – something that stood him in good stead in England – seems to have taken a beating.
Rahul, on the other hand, has looked assured at the top of the order – even on Sunday, the way he handled the new pink ball was quite a treat.
Devang Gandhi, a former India opener and a national selector, feels Rohit should stick to the middle-order, because that will avoid “unnecessary chopping and changing” in the light of the brilliant start to the tour. “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 TOI.
But it would require an adjustment when a player is asked to change his batting position at the fag-end of his career?
“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,” Gandhi said.

If Rohit has to look for a positive example, he may find one in Sunil Gavaskar, opener supreme, whose top score of 236 not out against the West Indies came as a No. 4 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in 1983.
But then Rohit and the Indian team management don’t take calls on basis of past records. They live in the present and it presently seems that the call of the hour is for the captain to don the middle-order batter’s hat in what will probably be his final journey as a Test batter.