Rohit Sharma made a captain’s decision to bat at no.6 for India in the ongoing second BGT 2024-25 test against Australia in Adelaide. This was to allow KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings, but Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting argued whether Rohit’s decision was a good one or not.
This was mainly due to Rohit Sharma falling for just 3 runs in India’s innings of 180 after the India skipper won the toss and chose to bat first, despite overcast conditions.
Nitish Reddy top-scored for India with 42, while KL Rahul (37) and Shubman Gill (31) were the other major contributors. For Australia, Mitchell Starc took 6/48, his career-best figures in Test Cricket.
Former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting expressed their thoughts on Rohit’s decision to shift down the order.
Sunil Gavaskar discusses Rohit Sharma moving down the order
While Gavaskar supported Rohit’s move down to No. 6 in the batting order, Ponting believes he should have returned to the opening place. Ponting believes Rohit might bat at No. 6 for the rest of his Test career.
Sunil Gavaskar was asked about Rohit Sharma’s shift down the order. Gavaskar justified Rohit’s decision, citing KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s strong relationship in the previous match in Perth.
He also argued that Rohit was playing a Test match after more than a month and could have been rusty. Furthermore, the current Test is played with a pink ball, which would have made it difficult for him to come in and open right immediately.
“Yes, because in the previous Test, they had a partnership of 200 between (KL) Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. You don’t want to break that because they had that momentum, they had that confidence and besides, Rohit Sharma hasn’t played any serious cricket for more than a month. The last time he played for India was on November.
So, it was required that he would be able to see what’s happening. Pink ball is not easy to play. India hasn’t play a pink-ball Test match for over two or three years. So, dropping himself down the order was to me a correct move,” Gavaskar said on 7Cricket.
Ricky Ponting disagrees with Sunil Gavaskar’s opinion on Rohit Sharma at no.6
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting disagreed and believed Sharma should have opened the batting in Adelaide. Ponting believes that with Rahul and Gill performing exceedingly well, Rohit may have to stay at No. 6 for the remainder of his Test career.
“I would actually disagree with what Sunny (Sunil Gavaskar) said. I thought he should have come back into the side and opened because KL Rahul has been a fringe player around this side for a no. of years. Yes, he got his chance, played well in Perth.
But what that says to me is now Rohit Sharma is going to spend the rest of his career down the order because KL Rahul has played well, Shubman Gill looked good in the first innings. The only spot for Rohit Sharma in the side is going to be No. 6 and that might be where he stays for the rest of his career. But he is a class player to come back in,” Ponting stated.
A discussion on whether Rohit Sharma should have batted at six or opened yesterday:
Gavaskar: "Dropping himself down the order was to me a correct move…"
Ponting: "I thought he should have come back into the side and opened…"#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/9ihyMPyQrf
— 7Cricket (@7Cricket) December 7, 2024
Rohit Sharma has been going through a rough patch of form recently. The Indian captain had a disappointing time in the home Test season which involved the Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Also read: Rohit Sharma Gets Criticized By Sanjay Manjrekar For His LBW Dismissal In Adelaide Test