At the top of the order in the much awaited Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Indian captain Rohit Sharma may be set to rejoin Yashasvi Jaiswal. The great batter was on paternity leave, thus he missed the first Test. Although he batted in the middle order, he returned to the playing XI for the second Test. KL Rahul and Yashasvi were able to maintain their position at the top following their game-winning opening partnership of 201 runs in the first Test thanks to this approach.
Nonetheless, it appears that Rohit will soon make a comeback as an opener. Rahul may bat at No. 3 if the 37-year-old places with Yashasvi at the top. But Shubman Gill’s place in the team will be seriously jeopardised by this. Although the Punjab batsman had a strong showing in the second Test, he was unable to turn his beginnings into significant runs.
In the pre-match news conference, Rohit Sharma refrained from giving away any information on India’s batting order at MCG.
The Nagpur-born player’s strategy was somewhat deliberate, in contrast to his straightforward declaration that he would bat in the middle order before to the Adelaide Test.
“We shouldn’t be concerned about who bats where. I would not be talking about it here, but it is something we need to find out. “We will act in the team’s best interest,” Rohit had stated on Tuesday, December 24.
Will India bring an additional spinner to the MCG match?
There won’t be much turn available, says Matt Page, curator at MCG. But as the game progresses, spinners may be used because of the severe afternoon weather, which might severely deteriorate the pitch. Even though Pat Cummins believes Nathan Lyon would be crucial, Rohit stayed silent when asked if he would consider bringing in an extra spinner.
“Whatever we have to do to make the best possible XI in these conditions, we will do that — whether that is playing an extra spinner or not,” Rohit added.
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