Shastri sees Rohit's return as 'fantastic boost', evaluates his batting position in new role

Ravi Shastri and Rohit Sharma. Pics/AFP

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels the return of captain Rohit Sharma for the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is a "fantastic boost" for the touring party.

Rohit missed out on the first Test due to personal reasons and linked with the team in Perth when the series opener was heading towards its climax.

The seasoned opener took part in India's two-day warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI. In his first outing with the pink ball in Australia this year, Rohit surprisingly came out to bat on number four and returned cheaply with a score of 3(11).

Since Canberra, Rohit has ramped up his preparations in Adelaide for the second Test, which will begin on Friday. Shastri sees Rohit's return as a big boost for India. For the former India head coach the experience that Rohit offers is something that the team needs especially in the middle order.

"It's a fantastic boost because there's no doubting his quality. He's very experienced. You need that experience in the middle order," Shastri said on the ICC Review.

With India currently suffering from an opening conundrum, especially after KL Rahul's blistering display in Perth, Shastri feels Rohit should come in where Australia won't like to see him.

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"He's experienced enough to see where he's most dangerous when it comes to Australia. Where would Australia not like to see him? That's the position he should choose. And he's the leader of the pack, so he can afford to do that," he added.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.

Australia Squad (for 2nd Test): Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (WK), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.

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