Melbourne : Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to open during the fourth Test against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), a Boxing Day affair starting from Thursday, as per reports.
The reports also suggest that KL Rahul, who has had a fine run in the series so far as an opener, could be shifted to number three. He is India’s leading run-getter in the series and overall second, with 235 runs in three matches and six innings at an average of 47.00, with two fifties and best score of 84 after six innings. With his patient gameplay and rock-solid defence, he has had immense success seeing off the new ball.
So far in the series, Rohit has had horrid outings in the middle order. Returning to the team for the Adelaide pink-ball Test, the ‘Hitman’ had made a decision to bat down the order due to the immense success of the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL during the Perth Test win. On his return, Rohit could score just 19 runs in three innings at number six, with best score of 10. Despite this though, he still has an average of 48.00 in 18 Tests he has played as a number six, with 1,056 runs and three centuries/six fifties.
In the ongoing Test season which started with the home Bangladesh series, Rohit has scored a poor 152 runs in seven games at a shockingly low average of 11.69, with just one fifty to his name. This year, he has made 607 runs in 13 Tests and 24 innings at a sub-par average of 26.39, with two centuries and two fifties. His best score is 131.
Since taking up opening in 2019, Rohit has been one of India’s top-performing stars in whites. In 42 Tests as an opener, Rohit has scored 2,685 runs in 64 innings at an average of 44.01, with nine centuries and eight fifties to his name. His best score is 212. He has been India’s top performer in the history of the ICC World Test Championship, with 2704 runs at an average of 42.25, with nine centuries and eight fifties in 39 Tests and 67 innings.
With the series level at 1-1, both sides will be playing the much-anticipated Boxing Day Test intending to secure an all-important series lead needed to push a case for the ICC World Test Championship final.
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India’s squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian.
