Rohit Sharma Breaks 2171-Day Streak with Crucial Decision for 2nd India vs Australia BGT Test

The much-awaited second Test of the India vs Australia Border-Gavaskar Trophy will finally begin on Friday at the Adelaide Oval. Team India will enter the field on the back of a dominant 295-run win over the hosts in Perth. Following the victory, more positivity has infested the Indian squad as ahead of the second Test, the team has received a substantial boost in the form of Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill’s return to the side.

Jasprit Bumrah took over the captaincy duties in the absence of Rohit Sharma in the 1st Test and attained glory by adequately marshalling his troop. With the return of the first-choice captain, the leadership onus once again falls on him. Besides that, the opening slot, which became a matter of convolution during the first Test- was eventually cleared by KL Rahul fitting at the spot- once again became a topic of conversation. However, to assuage the tension, Rohit Sharma has come up with the solution. The KL Rahul-Yashasvi Jaiswal pair will not be budged, rather Rohit Sharma will bat in the middle order in the 2nd Test of the 5-match series.

While opening has done wonders for Rohit Sharma, he started out as a middle-order batsman. He found seldom success in the middle and in the end, MS Dhoni took the gamble of sending him up the order. The decision paid utmost dividends in the limited over formats and with time he became an undisputed opener in the longest format of the game as well. As a considerable time has passed since he took up the opener’s duties, the Adelaide Test will be marked as the first time in 2171 days (6 years) when Rohit Sharma will feature in the middle order. His last innings in the middle set-up came also came against Australia, on December 26, 2018.

Despite asserting authority over the Aussies in the first Test, claiming victory by a gigantic 295 runs, a daunting challenge would be waiting for Team India in the 2nd Test. The hosts Australia would be yearning to pounce on every little mistake and cut India’s 1-0 lead in the series. Hence, it would be interesting to witness how India will tame the bruised Aussies and capitalize on the momentum they have garnered through the emphatic win in the 1st Test.