Former India players Ravi Shastri and Suni Gavaskar want skipper Rohit Sharma to return to the opening spot so that he can be his aggressive and expressive self. Rohit, who had missed the first Test, dropped to sixth spot in the pink-ball Test after KL Rahul excelled at the top in the series opener in his absence. However, the Indian skipper looked “too subdued” as he made scores of 3 and 6 in India's 10-wicket loss.
“That's the reason I want him at the top. That's where he can be aggressive and expressive. I just thought he was a bit too subdued just from his body language,” Shastri told 'Star Sports'.
“The fact that he wasn't making runs, I don't think there was enough on the field. I just wanted to see him more involved and a bit more lively,” the former India coach added.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, Rohit stated that he did not want to tinker with a combination that brought the team success in the series opener, which the visitors won with a 295-run victory in Perth. He even batted in the middle order in the warm-up match in Canberra.
However, Rohit admitted that it was not an easy decision for him to make personally.
“Personally it wasn't easy. But for the team it made a lot of sense,” Rohit, who batted in the middle order for the first time since 2018, had said.
Rahul, who looked solid with scores of 26 and 77 while sharing a 201-run partnership with fellow opener and centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings of the first Test, failed to replicate his form in the second match.
Rahul's inability to capitalize on this opportunity has prompted former India captain Gavaskar to call for Rohit's return to his opening position.
“He has to return to his regular spot. We have to remember why Rahul was opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test,” Gavaskar said on 'Sports Tak'.
“I can understand why they kept him as an opener in the second Test, he had a partnership of over 200 with Jaiswal.
But now that he couldn't score in this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No. 5 or No. 6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, he can also score a big century later. he added.
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