Adelaide:
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday (December 5) confirmed that KL Rahul will open the innings for India in the second Test against Australia. The second Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia is scheduled to take place at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. It is going to be a day-night game and will be played with a pink ball.
“He will open and I will bat somewhere in the middle,” Rohit said when asked about KL’s batting position during the pre-match press conference on the eve of the second Test.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Rahul opened for India in the series opener against Australia, which was played at Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22 to 25. The 32-year-old right-handed batter from Karnataka, who made his Test debut in December 2014, scored 26 runs in the first inning and hammered 77 runs in the second.
He added 201 runs for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings of the match, which India won by 295 runs inside four days.
Speaking about Rahul’s performance in the first Test of the ongoing series against Australia, Rohit said that he played brilliantly and there’s no need to change his position.
“The way KL batted, I was watching from home with the newborn baby in my arms. He played brilliantly, so there is no need to change now; things might be different in the future—the way KL bats overseas, so he deserves that spot at this point in time.”
According to the Indian captain, Rahul’s partnership with Jaiswal was the reason for India’s big win over the Baggy Greens in the first Test.
“The partnership with KL & Jaiswal probably won us the Test match – I don’t see we needed to change that – it was pretty easy for me, for the team it made sense”.
