FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Fifth Test - India v England - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, India - March 8, 2024 India's Rohit Sharma in action REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
(Reuters) - Returning India captain Rohit Sharma said he will bat in the middle order in the day-night second test against Australia beginning on Friday, allowing KL Rahul to continue as Yashasvi Jaiswal's opening partner in Adelaide.
Opener Rohit missed the first test in Perth to care for his newborn baby in Mumbai and Rahul grabbed the opportunity to fill in with both hands.
Rahul combined in a 201-run opening stand with Jaiswal in the second innings in Perth to set up India's victory by 295 runs, handing the team management a selection headache.
"He'll be opening the batting. I'll bat somewhere in the middle," Rohit told a press conference on the eve of the second match of the five-test series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
"We want results, we want success. Those two guys at the top, just looking at this one test match, they batted brilliantly."
"I felt there's no need to change that now. Maybe in the future things will be different."
With only one fifty in his last 10 test innings, Rohit's form remains a concern for the team and the importance of a strong start is not lost on the touring side.
Rohit said the foundation Rahul and Jaiswal gave India during their second innings score of 487-6 declared tilted the match in their favour.
"Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, he probably deserves that place at this point in time.
"It is something that has given us success in the first test to have that big partnership with Jaiswal on the other side. It probably won us the test match."
He said dropping down the batting order was not easy for him but "it made a lot of sense" from the team's point of view.
India's batting lineup will be thoroughly tested by the prodigiously swinging pink ball under the lights at the Adelaide Oval.
Rohit said the practice match they played ahead of the test helped them get used to the conditions they would face this week.
"We've been training here for the past three days, and I certainly felt that the more time you spend playing the pink ball, it gets a little easier.
"Obviously there will be challenges. Pink ball will throw its own challenge... You just have to find your own way of dealing with it."
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Saad Sayeed)
