IND対AUS：ロヒット・シャルマが「オープニングチャレンジ」を受け入れるも、3点リードしたものの惨敗

While there were a lot of talks surrounding Rohit Sharma’s batting order for the IND vs AUS, 4th Test at the MCG, many experts believed that he should open the batting and take up the challenge. And that is exactly what the 37-year-old skipper did in India’s first innings, on day 2 of the match, after the Aussies were all out for 474.

But then the ploy failed miserably, as he was dismissed early into the innings — for just 3, by Pat Cummins. That meant, Rohit’s miserable tour continued, where he has returned with scores 3, 6, 10, and 3 and averages only 5. In fact, this entire year has been poor for him, where in 25 innings, he has only scored 610 runs at an average of 25.

Rohit the Test batter stands completely exposed, where he didn’t manage to score runs in the home series vs New Zealand, and subsequently questions are asked of his casual captaincy as well, where the Aussies seized the initiative in the first innings.

Opening the batting was an unexpected move for sure, as Rohit had stayed non-committal over his batting position in the recent, pre-match press conference, only to confirm, he would bat in the top order at the time of the toss. But still, it was expected that the skipper would only bat at No.3, to let KL Rahul continue at the top, who has been India’s best batsman in the series.

Rohit Sharma had said at the PC, “Let’s not worry about that. Who bats where is something we need to figure out within ourselves. It is not something I should be discussing at every press conference. Whatever it takes for our team to look good, gives us the best chance to succeed, we will ty and do that.”