Gavaskar defends Rohit Sharma’s no.6 move, Ponting disagrees; fears India captain is now stuck ‘for rest of his career’
Indian captain Rohit Sharma returned to the XI in the second Test of the series against Australia but failed to make a mark with the bat.
With KL Rahul, the makeshift opener in Rohit’s absence, impressing in the first Test, the side decided to retain the opening order with Rohit coming to bat at no.6; however, the move didn’t pay off in the first innings, as the Indian captain was dismissed for a 23-ball 3.
While India endured a tough outing with the bat – being dismissed for 180 in the first innings – former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting weren’t in agreement over Rohit’s batting position in the Test. The Indian captain has been an opener in the longest format since 2019, and while Gavaskar believes Rohit made the right call to come back to middle-order, Ponting disagreed.
“The previous Test, you have a 200-run partnership between Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal. You don’t want to break that, they have that momentum and confidence. Besides, Rohit Sharma hasn’t played any serious cricket for more than a month, the last time he played for India was November 3, we are at December 6,” Gavaskar reasoned.
“Clearly, it was required that he would be able to see what was happening, pink ball isn’t easy to play, India hasn’t played pink-ball test in maybe 2-3 years, so dropping himself down the order was, to me, a correct move.”
Rohit could end up at 6 for ‘rest of his career’
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting insinuated that Rohit could be spending the rest of his Test career in the middle-order, with slots less likely to be freed in the top-order. Ponting argued that both, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill, have performed well in their respective roles as opener and no.3 batters, and Rohit may find it difficult to come back to his designated opening slot.
“I actually disagree with what Sunny said. I feel he should’ve come back in the side and open the batting. KL Rahul has been a fringe player around this team for a number of years. Yes, he got his chance and he played in Perth. But what it seems to be now is that Rohit Sharma is going to spend the rest of his career down the order Because KL Rahul has played well, Shubman Gill looked good in the first innings, so he looks certain. The only spot for Rohit Sharma in the side now is no.6 and that might be where he stays for the rest of his career,” Ponting said.
“He is a class player, although his record isn’t that good against Australia. I think he has only made one century against Australia. The captain coming back in, and batting in the middle, was a bit of an eye opener, but those are the decisions that a captain has to make.”
The Indian captain has had a rough past few months in the longest format, with only one half-century to his name across five home Tests (against Bangladesh and New Zealand). Additionally, Rohit endured a rare failure as captain when India faced an unprecedented 0-3 home series defeat to the Kiwis in November.