Rohit drops to the middle order, as visitors look to break Australia’s 100 per cent pink ball record at the Adelaide Oval
Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah
Having stormed one Australian bastion 10 days back, India will embark on a mission to pull off an encore when the second Test begins at the Adelaide Oval on Friday.
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Before November 25, Australia had won each of their four Tests at Perth’s Optus Stadium until, under Jasprit Bumrah, India brought that streak to a halt with a commanding 295-run triumph.
Now, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma back in commission, India will seek to arrest the hosts’ 100 per cent record stacked up over seven day-night Tests at the Oval dating back to November 2015. Putting all speculation to rest, Rohit confirmed that India would stick with the opening combine of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, whose 201-run partnership in the second innings was one of the cornerstones behind their huge win. It means for the first time since December 2018, the captain will drop into the middle order, where he had batted since his debut in November 2013 before moving up to the opener’s slot six years thereafter.
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Adapting to change
Having played his last 64 innings at the top of the tree, Rohit will need to make rapid adjustments, especially against the pink ball, as he reclaims a middle-order berth in the interests of his team. Rahul, who has six overseas hundreds as opener, will look to make the most of another opportunity to reiterate how crucial he is to India’s Test fortunes after having been worked up and down the order in the last 11 months.
Rohit apart, India will also welcome back No. 3 Shubman Gill, who missed the Perth victory with a broken left thumb. Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel will automatically go out after having filled temporary voids with little success.
Pleasant memory
Australia’s successes in pink-ball matches here have revolved around batting first and batting big, potentially deep into the second afternoon, and then using a misbehaving ball under artificial lights to impose themselves on all-comers. They will have pleasant memories of their previous day-night Test at the same venue against India, who were shot out for 36 four years back. But those memories will be tempered both by their own batting inadequacies that were mercilessly exposed by Bumrah in Perth and by the absence through injury of Josh Hazlewood, the tall pacer who is recovering from soreness in the side.
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The home side have copped a lot of flak for its insipid listlessness in the opening game, but anyone who has even cursorily followed Australian cricket will be well educated in their fierce pride in performance. Scott Boland, Hazlewood’s replacement, lends a new dimension with the ball but the onus will be on skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc to lead the way, just as it will be incumbent upon former captain Steve Smith and the beleaguered Marnus Labuschagne to shake off lean trots and shore up a batting line-up sorely missing the retired David Warner and the supremely talented Cameron Green, who recently underwent lower spine surgery.
Bumrah has been the cynosure since his eight-wicket haul while there is a sense of wariness within the Australian camp now that Virat Kohli has ended a 16-month wait for a Test ton. How effectively Australia manage to neutralise these twin threats will dictate how the next few evenings pan out.
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