KL Rahul opened the batting for India in Perth in the absence of captain and opener, Rohit Sharma and impressed in both innings where he played out the new ball in challenging conditions of Day 1 followed by a 200-run stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings.
After Rohit returned and joined the team ahead of the pink ball tour game in Canberra, he decided to bat in the middle order while keeping the opening pair untouched, giving the indications for the Adelaide pink ball Tests.
As confirmed by the Indian skipper, Rahul will continue to open while Rohit will shift to bat in the middle order ta Adelaide, The Sporting News takes a look at Sharma's record in the middle order in Tests.
What is Rohit Sharma's Test record batting in the middle order?
Rohit started his Test career in the middle order where he had a decent record before moving up to the top and owning the opening position.
With Shubman Gill also returning, it would be interesting to see how India lines up for the two spots of 3 and 5/6. Following is the record of Rohit in Tests when he has not opened the innings.
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| Position | Innings | Runs | Avg/SR | Highest | 50/100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 5 | 107 | 21.4/41.6 | 53 | 1/0 |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 4.0/25.0 | 4 | 0/0 |
| 5 | 16 | 437 | 29.1/48.6 | 79 | 3/0 |
| 6 | 25 | 1,037 | 54.6/60.7 | 177 | 6/3 |
| Total | 47 | 1585 | 39.6/55.0 | 177 | 10/3 |
As it stands, Rahul and Jaiswal are fixed at the top with Virat Kohli at 4 and Rishabh Pant at either 5 or 6, depending upon where Rohit and Gill bat.
From what we saw in the tour game against Australia's PM's XI, it looks like Rohit might bat at 5 with Gill keeping his place at 3 or in another scenario, Pant might keep his No. 5 spot while the skipper moves down to 6, to face a considerably older ball.
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When did Rohit Sharma last bat in the middle order for India in Tests?
Rohit last batted in the middle over during the third Test of India's tour of Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2018/19 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which started on December 26, 2018.
He scored an unbeaten 63 runs batting at Number 6 in the second innings, in a match which India went on to win by 137 runs.
It has been 2171 days since the current Indian captain last batted in the middle order.
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