India are 1-0 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After being bowled out for 150 in the first innings, the batters responded beautifully in the second dig to rack up 487/6 before they declared. And that set up the win for India.
KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal shared a mammoth 201-run stand for the opening wicket. In fact, Rahul who scored 77 in the second innings looked very solid on a spicy pitch in the first innings as well. He made 26 and faced 76 balls as he looked assured at the crease for most part of his knock.
But with captain Rohit Sharma back for the second Test and Shubman Gill likely to recover from his finger injury, Rahul may have to slot back into the middle order.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara does not want the Karnataka lad to bat below No. 3. Given the success Rahul has had and the experience of tackling the new ball in SENA countries, Pujara believes the opening combination shouldn’t be tinkered and Rohit can bat at No. 3.
“I think, for some reason if we can carry on with the same batting order, like KL and Yashasvi to open, Rohit could come in at three, and Shubman could come in at five. If Rohit wants to open, KL should bat at No. 3. Nothing later than that. I think he has to bat top of the order, because it suits his game really well. I hope we don’t tinker around with that,” Cheteshwar Pujara was quoted saying to EPSNCricinfo.
‘Gill can bat at 5, Pant at 6’: Pujara
If Rahul and Rohit bat in the top three, that leaves Gill to slot further down. The 25-year-old has not batted outside the top three in his 29-match Test career. Hence, it will be a big change for him. But Pujara thinks it could help Gill if he walks in at 5. He could negotiate the new ball if early wickets fall, else he could come out with a free-flowing mindset if he walks out to bat after the 25th or the 30th over.
Rishabh Pant has been batting at No. 5 ever since he made a comeback to the Test team. The left-handed wicket-keeper has been India’s best Test batter since returning to the side. Pujara explained that Pant could be saved for the old ball as he could go out and attack freely.
“Ideally No. 5. Because it allows him to come in at a time, even if we lose two wickets early, he is someone who can negotiate the new ball. But if he walks in after, say, 25 or 30 overs, he can play his shots. He can play his natural game. And in case we lose the first three wickets early, Gill walks in and saves Rishabh Pant for the old ball. [Pant] doesn’t have to face the new ball. I wouldn’t want him to walk in to bat when the ball is hard and new,” Pujara explained.
India have a two-day pink-ball warm-up game against Prime Minister’s XI before the second Test in Adelaide which is a day-night encounter. It’ll be interesting to see the batting line-up they go with.
Rahul batted in the middle-order in the home season before being promoted to open in the first Test. Rohit has been opening in Test cricket from 2019 and has not batted anywhere else since then. Gill has made the No. 3 spot his own in the last year or so. Thus, India have a headache to solve but it is a good one.
