“Number six for Rohit?…”: Harbhajan Singh takes a dig at the possible lineup of India at Adelaide

New Delhi: Rohit Sharma, the Indian cricket team skipper who is set to make a return to the national side is going to enter a very tricky situation. For the Indian batsman, the opening slot will be the natural position where he can fit in.

However, many people like former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh, the opinion is that the Indian skipper should start in the middle order. In a recent interview with the PTI, Singh remarked:

I don’t see Rohit coming in at number five or six. Either Rohit will open with Yashasvi Jaiswal, with KL Rahul coming in at number three, or he will bat no later than number three…

Should Rohit be drafted in as the opener for the Indian team?

There are three reasons why captain Rohit Sharma should not return to the top of the batting lineup for the Adelaide test which are:

KL back in action: India has put its trust in the out-of-form KL Rahul to open the batting in Perth against Australia. That gamble paid off and the Karnataka-born batter repaid that faith with his good show in the 1st Test at Perth. Moreover, the time that Rahul has spent in the middle has given him an assurance that he can go ahead and take on the Australian pacers.

In a long series like this, teams are always looking for batters who are in form and confident. Rahul has started in that fashion with a total of 103 runs (26 and 77) in his two innings at Perth. Not to forget he consumed 250 balls in scoring those runs, doing the job that Cheteshwar Pujara did during India’s back-to-back test triumphs in Australia on the last two tours.

If Rahul can do a Pujara heroics, then nothing India can’t ask for anything better.

Pink-ball danger: Batting under the lights in Australia as an opener is in itself a challenge, and the pink makes things even tougher. On top of that, if the batter doesn’t have runs under his belt lately, which is the case with Rohit, the confidence is shaken. In that scenario, if you have two openers who have been doing the job in such challenging conditions, it’s better to let them continue rather than disturb the equilibrium at the top.

Hitman needs time to settle: The last and most important point is Rohit needs time to settle down before he is drafted into the side as an opener. His attacking short-format instincts as an opener are possibly why the skipper is finding that much harder to switch to a more controlled approach to rediscover his form against the red ball.

It could thus be a blessing in disguise if Rohit does not play as an opener and bide his time in the middle order, where he can play the waiting game and find the middle of his bat by milking the bowlers.