Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has done a U-turn on his stance, eight days after suggesting that India skipper Rohit Sharma should be zeroed out of the middle-order position on his Test return in Adelaide.
Shastri, who promoted Rohit to open in Tests five years ago, has now urged the skipper to return to his most favored spot in the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test starting in Brisbane on Saturday, despite his modesty in Adelaide. A stunning dip in performance and form.
Rohit faced a single-digit score against the pink ball with the Australian seamers hitting perfect lines to trouble the 37-year-old. A month after captain and head coach Gautam Gambhir recommended the No.6 slot for the Karnataka batsman, Rohit’s demotion meant KL Rahul was placed as Yashasvi Jaiswal’s opening partner.
While Shastri doesn’t expect a dramatic turn in Rohit’s fortunes, he believes his new aggressive style should settle the opening slot. Shastri said at an event on Thursday, “There he has been performing brilliantly in the last eight or nine years.” “It’s not that he’s going to set the world on fire – he might – but this is the best place for him. To lead from the front.
“If he has to do the damage, if he has to throw the first punch, that is the best place from which he can do it. And it is important that India can get their decision here, because the series is 1-1, this is an ongoing Test match.
Rohit scored just one half-century in his last 10 innings in the pink-ball Test last week when Shastri asked India to go with an unchanged opening combination from their win in Perth, pushing the skipper into the middle order.
“He (Rohit) has enough experience to see where Australia is most dangerous. Where would Australia not like to see him? He has to choose that position. And he is the leader of the pack, so he can do that. I think he (Rahul) (opening ) should continue because Rohit hasn’t got much time since coming here (Australia),” Shastri said in the ICC review.
“Pretty soon he had to play that Prime Minister’s XI game. But I say continue with the same setup. He (Rohit) can bat at five or six,” he added.
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