IND vs AUS: Rohit Sharma’s batting position has been a topic of debate ever since KL Rahul batted as well as he did in the first Test. Perhaps, it would have been different had Rohit been in a richer vein of form.
Rohit Sharma didn’t open, choosing to bat at No.4 in the Prime Minister’s XI pink-ball game at Manuka Oval, triggering obvious thoughts about his batting position in the Adelaide Test. It does make sense after KL Rahul’s assured batting as an opener in both innings of the Perth Test, the way he mentored Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second dig there. It was Shubman Gill, who batted at three, reassuming his position that he has made his own, and made a neat fifty.
It also allows Rohit, who has been a bit too impetuous in the recent Tests as an opener, to settle in a middle-order role. He lasted just 11 balls though against PM XI, chasing a ball well outside off from Charlie Anderson, and edging it to the slips. The crowd sensed that Virat Kohli was not at the ground – he had left by then—and a large section left the arena. Rishabh Pant, who kept for the first half of the PM XI’s batting innings before Sarfaraz Khan took over, too didn’t bat.
Rohit’s batting position has been a topic of debate ever since Rahul batted as well as he did in the first Test. Perhaps, it would have been different had Rohit been in a richer vein of form. At his pomp as Test opener, he was the classic opener, not taking any risks, letting a ton of balls go through to the ‘keeper, taking his time to open up. But of late, he has been in a bit of a hurry, trying to stamp his authority rather quickly on the proceedings. The middle-order role allows him more breathing space, and less issues as he doesn’t have to face the moving pink ball.
All else went pretty well for India. They won the toss and chose to bowl first to test their batting under lights. The pink ball did move around a bit, especially when new, in total contrast to the afternoon when it was pretty flat. The game itself was a bit of a friendly as India kept batting on even after they “won”, chasing down the 241-run target. Mid-afternoon rains had reduced the game from 50-overs to 46 and Sam Konstas–the 19-year old opener who has suddenly shot up in the national reckoning and was in the frame to be selected for the Perth Test–slammed an aggressive hundred.
Compact Rahul
Rahul continued to showcase his compact technique. The best thing about it isn’t in the shots he played, but in dealing with the ball in the off-stump corridor. In the past, he has occasionally let his hands jar at the ball, dragging the bat away from the body. But in Perth, as also here, he just played the line. If the ball jagged away, it would sail past the edge without any danger. Even the forward stride that was so precise and effective at Perth was on view here. His form gives additional reason for Rohit to go down the order.
Gill eased into his knock without much fuss. There were a couple of deliveries initially when he had a bit of a poke and a miss, and Rahul came across for a mid-pitch chat. The ball had straightened or just about shaped away on those occasions. There weren’t many alarms for him afterwards, and pretty soon in his piece, he unfurled his short-arm jabbed cut – that stroke without much follow-through and a shot that was reared on cement tracks in childhood. It’s quite a visual treat, as he allows the ball to come through and sort of hammers the nail on its head with one swift fluid move.
Jaiswal was squared-up a couple of times against the new ball cutting away from him. There were a couple more edged fours through slips as he tried to charge and heave once, and got a leading edge on the other when he tried to work the ball to the on side. But when he wanted to be compact and tight, he was. The only real sign of concern, if that word can be used, when he seemingly had a back spasm. He kept fiddling with his back and when it ailed him a tad bit more, he took treatment from the physio, as he lay on his stomach. But it must not have been something serious as he continued batting. Of all the Indian batsmen, he was the one who tried to be overtly aggressive, and eventually miscued a heave to cover.
Nitish Reddy continued to be his impressively busy self. Just as he did to Nathan Lyon at Perth, he took the attack to the leg spinner Lloyd Pope. A charge down the track and a slog sweep had the crowd howling in delight but the shot of the game was his revere-swept boundary. It was some shot, to a full delivery outside off and Reddy just let his hands go through the shot in some style.
India wrapped up the game, with most batsmen they wanted getting a hit, and the bowlers getting a bowl.
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