New Delhi, Dec 12 (IANS) Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes India captain Rohit Sharma should be given his usual opening position for the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia starting December 14 in Brisbane. Must return.
For the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, Rohit decided to bat at number six so as not to trouble the Yashasvi Jaiswal-KL Rahul duo, who made an opening stand of 201, paving the way for India’s 295-run win in Perth. Had a partnership.
But Rohit could only score nine runs in two innings as the number six batsman in India’s ten-wicket defeat against Australia at the Adelaide Oval as the Pat Cummins-led side leveled the five-match series with the scoreline at 1-1. Did it 1.
“I felt if (Rohit) Sharma was coming back into the team, he should have gone straight back to the top and started batting,” Ponting said on the ICC Review Show. That’s how I feel about it. And I know KL and Jaiswal had a 200-run partnership in Perth and they played well, but he (Rohit) is your captain.
“He’s one of your most experienced players. You want to send him back at the top in his normal role. So they might think about that. They might think about sending Rohit back at the top for Brisbane.”
In his last 12 Test innings, Rohit has scored just 142 runs, and his average is 11.83. Ponting said that if he were in the Indian team camp, he would find ways to make him comfortable about scoring runs as an opening batsman ahead of the crunch Brisbane Test.
“It’s like, you just know within yourself. You don’t need anyone to tell you whether you are scoring runs or not, or whether you are batting well or not. You also know deep down inside Rohit had a long break before that Test match and by the way, it was not the easiest wicket to bat on, I guess, most of the players struggled to score runs on that wicket.
“Concerned is the right word…if it’s just worry or a little bit of anxiety about scoring runs next time you bat. But if I were India and him, I would try to find a way to make it as smooth as possible.”
He concluded, “And he has batted for such a long time. I would bring him straight back in there again and try to find a slot somewhere in the order for KL (Rahul). This is what I will do. Because I think he (Rohit) would like that.”
–IANS
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