Rohit Sharma suggests change in batting position for Adelaide Pink Ball Test; KL Rahul to maintain opener role against Australia

India captain Rohit Sharma, on Sunday, hinted at a potential change in his batting position for the upcoming second Test against Australia in Adelaide, starting on December 6. The team list for the pink-ball warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI at the Manuka Oval in Canberra revealed that the 37-year-old will be batting at No.5 for India.

Rohit had missed the opening match in Perth last month owing to birth of his second child. He joined the Indian camp just about a week back, during the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Test series match at the Optus Stadium, where the Jasprit Bumrah-led side scripted a record 295-run win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test contest.

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transform: rotate(32deg); animation: shinerMooving 3s infinite; z-index: 1; filter: blur(1px); } @keyframes shinerMooving { 0% { left: -40px; } 100% { left: 150%; } } Top 15 buys at IPL 2025 Auction Rishabh Pant ₹ 27 Cr DC LSG Total Match 111 Total Runs 3284 Highest Score 128 runs Shreyas Iyer ₹ 26.75 Cr KKR PBKS Total Match 115 Total Runs 3127 Highest Score 96 runs Venkatesh Iyer ₹ 23.75 Cr KKR KKR Total Match 50 Total Runs 1326 Highest Score 104 runs Wickets 3 Best Bowling 2/29 Arshdeep Singh ₹ 18 Cr PBKS PBKS Total Match 65 Total Runs 29 Highest Score 10 runs Wickets 76 Best Bowling 5/32 Yuzvendra Chahal ₹ 18 Cr RR PBKS Total Match 260 Total Runs 37 Highest Score 8 runs Wickets 205 Best Bowling 5/40 Jos Buttler ₹ 15.75 Cr RR GT Total Match 107 Total Runs 3582 Highest Score 124 runs KL Rahul ₹ 14 Cr LSG DC Total Match 132 Total Runs 4683 Highest Score 132 runs Trent Boult ₹ 12.50 Cr RR MI Total Match 104 Total Runs 83 Highest Score 17 runs Wickets 121 Best Bowling 4/18 Jofra Archer ₹ 12.50 Cr MI RR Total Match 35 Total Runs 195 Highest Score 27 runs Wickets 46 Best Bowling 3/15 Josh Hazlewood ₹ 12.50 Cr RCB RCB Total Match 12 Total Runs - Highest Score - Wickets 12 Best Bowling 3/24 Mohammed Siraj ₹ 12.25 Cr RCB GT Total Match 93 Total Runs 109 Highest Score 14 runs Wickets 93 Best Bowling 4/21 Mitchell Starc ₹ 11.75 Cr KKR DC Total Match 41 Total Runs 105 Highest Score 29 runs Wickets 51 Best Bowling 4/15 Phil Salt ₹ 11.50 Cr DC RCB Total Match 21 Total Runs 653 Highest Score 89 runs Ishan Kishan ₹ 11.25 Cr MI SRH Total Match 105 Total Runs 2644 Highest Score 99 runs Wickets - Best Bowling - Jitesh Sharma ₹ 11 Cr PBKS RCB Total Match 40 Total Runs 730 Highest Score 49 runs Check Full Coverage

Rohit was set set to assume his opening role, where KL Rahul filled the gap in the Perth Test. But the latter carved out a valiant knock of 77 in the second innings, while forging a record 201-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal, which laid the foundation for India's second-ever win in Perth, the previous being at the WACA under Anil Kumble in 2008.

In the lead-up to the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, which will be a pink ball game, the only discussion pertaining to the Indian team has been where would Rohit bat after Rahul's impressive knock in Perth.

On Sunday, as India announced the team sheet for the warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI, Rohit dropped a major hint on his batting position in Adelaide, as he listed himself at No.5, while Rahul was named as an opener. Shubman Gill, who had missed the first game as well owing to a thumb injury, has been listed at No. 3.

INDIAN LINE-UP FOR WARM-UP GAME: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sarfaraz Khan.

A look at Rohit's batting numbers at No. 5

Rohit batted just 16 times at No. 5 in his career, the last being in 2018. He scored 437 runs in nine matches at 29.13, with three fifties. However, all of those knocks came outside India.

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