The Indian captain in the longest format, Rohit Sharma, marked his return back in the side for the second day-night fixture of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Adelaide Oval, having taken a break from their opening 295-run victory at the Optus Stadium in Perth due to the birth of his second child.
Rohit Sharma, on winning the toss, decided to bat first on a surface that was, like Perth, expected to get fast as the game progressed. With his return, there were questions if the management would break the successful opening stand between KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who put on 201 runs in the second innings of the previous Test.
The Nagpur-born, instead, decided to drop him down in the middle order, something which he hadn’t done in the last six years. The veteran opening batter started his red-ball career at the position against the West Indies and celebrated a century.
At the number six in the five-day format of the game, Rohit Sharma has enjoyed 1037 runs in 25 innings at an average of over 54 and a strike rate of around 61 with the help of six half-centuries and three centuries at the best score of 177.
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The 37-year-old came into the middle of a tricky situation when they were just a couple of minutes away from the first break of the day. He negotiated the over from Mitchell Starc but perished soon on the third over of the second session against Scott Boland.
Adam Gilchrist highlights the weakness of Rohit Sharma during the Adelaide Test
Rohit Sharma was on three off 23 balls when the Victoria pacer got the one to come back sharply from the good length to the batter, as he often does, went harder at the ball and found himself rooted on the crease. The minimal front-foot movement didn’t allow the Indian captain to be in a position to counter the sharp movement of the ball.
The right-handed batter had a long discussion with his partner, the wicket-keeper batter of the side, Rishabh Pant, and decided not to go for the decision review system (DRS). The last few Tests have been quite struggling for the batter, who could collect only 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.50 with just one half-century at home against New Zealand.
The former Australian wicket-keeper batter, Adam Gilchrist, has pointed out the issues of Rohit Sharma’s footwork besides taking a jab at the Indian captain.
“Hazlewood was Australia’s best bowler in Perth, but having Boland playing here as his replacement is not bad. Boland is tall, but you wonder if the ball would have hit the stump if it had been Hazlewood. Boland can skid the ball through. It did so here. Rohit Sharma’s front foot was stuck, and that’s a good night.” The former Western Australian wicket-keeper expressed while working on the commentary for Fox Cricket.
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Starc has been the main wreaker for India, who, in the end, were bundled out for 180 in their first innings. Rohit showed great patience while opening the batting in 2021 during their England series but has lost the charm a little bit in recent times.
The Mumbai batter has collected only 588 runs in the longest format in 2024 in 21 innings at an average of under 30 and a strike rate of around 70 with the help of two half-centuries and as many centuries at the best score of 131. He will look to show some development in the second innings of the Adelaide Test.