Hyderabad: After registering a historic victory in the Perth Test, Indian cricket team would be aiming to avenge their defeat in Pink ball Test on last tour at the Adelaide Oval where they were bowled out for a mere total of 36 runs, courtesy of fiery spell from Australian pacers Josh Hazlewood fifer and Pat Cummins' four-wicket haul.
Jasprit Bumrah led India to the historic Test win at the Optus Stadium in Perth, but he will make way for Rohit. India have strengthened their lineup with the return of captain Rohit Sharma, who joined the side during the first Test, and Shubman Gill, who has fully recovered from the thumb injury, and might fancy their chances to hand Australia their first-ever pink ball match defeat at Adelaide Oval.
Rohit Sharma said " the way kl batted, i was watching from home with new born baby on arms, he played brilliantly so there is no need to change now, things might be different in future - the way kl bats in overseas, so he deserves that spot at this point of time". pic.twitter.com/Xn0USmDq1w
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 5, 2024
However, there has been a lot of chat around whether Rohit will play in the middle order or KL Rahul, who opened the innings for India in the first test, will make a way for the captain. However, the Indian captain Rohit Sharma on Wednesday has confirmed that he will bat somewhere in the middle order and KL Rahul will continue to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal, at least in the Pink ball test.
"Yeah, he will be opening the batting. I will bat somewhere in the middle," Rohit said.
In Rohit's absence, Yashasvi and Rahul opened the batting and stitched a defining 201-run partnership in the second innings at the Optus Stadium. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has only opened the batting for India since his elevation to the top of the order in 2019. Since then, Rohit has opened in 42 Tests, scoring close to 3000 runs at an average of 44 with 9 hundreds.
So, let's just have a look at both Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul's stats at each batting position in Test cricket.
| Player Name | Batting Position | Innings | Runs | Average | Fifty | Hundred |
| Rohit Sharma | Opening | 64 | 2685 | 43.99 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | 107 | 21.4 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | 16 | 437 | 29.13 | 3 | 0 | |
| 6 | 25 | 1037 | 54.57 | 6 | 3 |
| Player Name | Batting Position | Innings | Runs | Average | Fifty | Hundred |
| KL Rahul | Opening | 77 | 2654 | 36.05 | 13 | 7 |
| 3 | 5 | 88 | 17.6 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2 | 108 | 54 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | |
| 6 | 9 | 234 | 29.25 | 1 | 1 |
