Rohit Sharma ought to reclaim his customary opening position in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, as suggested by former India captain and esteemed batsman Sunil Gavaskar. In the second Test against Australia, Rohit occupied the No. 5 position, marking the first occasion since 2019 that he did not open for the Indian Test team. During that match, he recorded scores of merely three and six, contributing to India's defeat by 10 wickets in the pink-ball Test.

India opted to retain KL Rahul as the opening partner for Yashasvi Jaiswal, primarily due to Rahul's performance in the first Test. However, he only managed to score 37 and seven on the second Test. Gavaskar remarked on Sports Tak, “He should return to his regular spot. We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test.”

‘If Rohit scores quickly, he can get a big century’

Gavaskar expressed his understanding of India's decision to retain Rahul in the opening position. In the first innings of the initial Test in Perth, Rahul managed to score 26 runs off 74 balls, a commendable feat considering the difficulties faced by many other batsmen. In the second innings, he improved significantly, scoring 77 runs off 176 balls and contributing to a 201-run opening partnership with Jaiswal.

"Now I comprehend why they opted to keep him as an opener for the second Test, given his substantial partnership with Jaiswal. However, since he was unable to score in this Test, I believe Rahul should be moved down to the No. 5 or No. 6 position, allowing Rohit Sharma to take the opening role. If Rohit can start quickly, he has the potential to convert that into a significant century later on," Gavaskar remarked.

Rohit acknowledged that India likely fell short by 30 to 40 runs with their batting performance in the first innings of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. "It was a disappointing week for us; we did not perform well, and Australia outplayed us to win the Test match. We missed crucial opportunities. Our batting was insufficient, probably 30 to 40 runs short in the first innings. There were moments when Australia was batting, and we failed to capitalize on those chances. Missing such opportunities makes it challenging," Rohit stated during the post-match press conference.

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