Prime Minister’s XI vs India A: Regular captain Rohit Sharma will return to the Indian team in the next Test in Adelaide, so before that, in the practice match to be held in Canberra from November 30, it will be interesting to see whether he opens the innings himself or gets Lokesh Rahul to open the innings. Whether Rohit or Rahul bats at number three will also depend on whether Shubman Gill is fit or not. If Gill is not fit for the match, then either Rahul or Rohit will play at number three in this match. However, some people in the Indian cricket world believe that if Rohit bats in the middle order (fifth or sixth position) during this tour, it will be more effective for the team.
Due to Rohit’s absence in the first Test in Perth, Rahul was used as a temporary opening batsman. However, he looked the technically strongest of all the Indian batsmen, scoring 26 and 77 runs in both the innings at the Optus Stadium. Before this match, he also played the role of opening batsman in a match for India A at MCG.
Rohit, who has been opening the innings in Tests for the last five years, is not in his best form. His performance in the five recent Test matches played in India was not encouraging. However, all these matches were played on difficult pitches for batting. Gill suffered a hairline fracture in his finger during the practice match at the WACA and was ruled out of the opening Test match. He has not yet started batting practice in the net session. If he is fit for the match then Dhruv Jurel will have to be out of the eleven.
In this match it also remains to be seen whether the team management makes any changes in the spin bowling department or not. In Perth, Washington Sundar got a chance to play in place of experienced spin bowlers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin took four wickets for 45 runs in the first innings of the pink-ball Test in Adelaide in 2021. This also included the wicket of Steve Smith on a brilliant ball.
Looking at the current conditions, the pitch in Adelaide will not be of much help to the spinners. Jadeja has been given preference over Ashwin due to his better batting in foreign countries but Washington is considered technically better than him. This left-handed batsman had made an important contribution in taking the team’s lead to more than 500 by making a partnership of 89 runs with Virat Kohli in Perth. In the Adelaide Test, the Indian team will have to pay more attention to deciding the batting order than deciding the playing eleven.
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