India's captain Rohit Sharma seems to be influenced by cricket icons Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar as he prepares to open the batting in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. This was evident during India's training session on Thursday. The series is currently tied at 1-1, with India winning the first match in Perth but losing the second by 10 wickets in Adelaide. The third Test kicks off on Saturday at the Gabba in Brisbane.

As reported by 7news.com.au, Rohit, who struggled in the second Test batting at No. 6, dedicated a good chunk of time to facing the new ball during the team's first practice in Brisbane. The squad arrived on Wednesday and had a practice session at the Adelaide Oval on Monday after the second Test.

At first, it looked like India would stick with their opening duo of KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the third Test, as they were the ones batting in the nets while Rohit focused on slip catching. However, he soon took over from Rahul in the nets, facing the new ball from Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Akash Deep, which he hadn’t done before the last Test.

Later on, Rahul came back to the nets for another batting session, facing the semi-new ball alongside Virat Kohli.

What did Shastri and Gavaskar talk about?

Rohit was expected to start in Adelaide, but the team management, including him, chose to stick with the opening duo of Rahul and Jaiswal, who had just put together a record 201-run partnership in the Perth Test. Plus, Rahul had finally hit his stride with a solid 77 in that game. So, Rohit ended up batting at No. 6 in the second Test, but he only managed scores of 3 and 6, continuing a rough patch where he had only crossed 20 runs twice in his last 12 innings.

After the Adelaide Test, Shastri suggested that Rohit should return to the opening position at the Gabba, feeling he was too restrained in the middle order.

"That's why I want him at the top. He can be more aggressive and show his true self there. He just seemed a bit off, especially in his body language," Shastri mentioned to the broadcasters.

Gavaskar shared a similar view, pointing out that Rahul would have batted at No. 6 if Rohit had played in Perth.

“He should go back to his usual spot. We need to remember that Rahul opened because Rohit wasn’t available for the first Test. I get why they kept him as an opener in the second Test; he had that big partnership with Jaiswal,” he said on ‘Sports Talk’.

“But since he didn’t score in this Test, I think Rahul should drop back to No. 5 or 6, and Rohit Sharma should take the opening role. If Rohit gets off to a quick start, he could also go on to make a big century later,” he added.

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