Pujara Suggests Rahul’s Batting Position if Rohit Opens: Message for Gambhir Ahead of Adelaide Test

Pujara Suggests Rahul’s Batting Position if Rohit Opens: KL Rahul was in blistering form during the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020 against Australia in Perth. The 32-year-old opened with Yashasvi Jaiswal in both innings, and had a great impact. Rahul scored a mere 26 off 74 balls in the first innings, while Jaiswal scored a duck off eight balls.

In the second innings, Rahul came up with the exemplary reply by scoring a gritty 176 balls 77 runs knock. Meanwhile, Jaiswal got a century, hammering 161 off 297 deliveries. The manic second innings also saw Virat Kohli hammer a century, beating the opponent for 100* off 143 deliveries.

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Rahul opened the innings as India captain Rohit Sharma was absent from the scene due to paternity. But the skipper will join the playing XI in the second Test, creating a selection dilemma for Gautam Gambhir and his management. In fact, Rahul has played almost all his Test innings of late with a middle-order batting slot, thus showing very little consistency with the bat.

However, during opening, he seemed to showcase another dimension to his execution- one that impressed all with its rock-solid approach. On this note, Cheteshwar Pujara had some things to tell Gambhir as the ace urged to keep Rahul at No. 3 in the batting order if Rohit decides to open the innings in the second Test.

"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," he said.

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Shubman Gill was also away from the first Test owing to an injury and is expected to be back for the next match. Pujara would like Gambhir to play Gill at No. 5 if he recovers in time for the second Test. "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," he said.

That bowling department comprised Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Washington Sundar, who were apparently very effective during the course of the very first Test. Pujara really heaved praises on these bowlers and was very vocal in terms of backing Sundar for R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja over others. "Washington can bat well, which could be vital if the lower-middle order needs to contribute. Although he started slow with the ball, he improved and took a couple of key wickets," he said.

The next Test match is slated for December 6 and will take place in Adelaide. Rohit is expected to come back for the series and the visitors will try to increase their over other teams in this series.

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