Aus vs Ind 2018: 3 Reasons why Rohit Sharma should open the batting in the Test series

Rohit Sharma's stature in Indian cricket is inarguable. He is definitely one of the most lethal opening batsmen in limited overs cricket - not only in India, but all over the world.

Touted by many greats of the game as the wonder boy of Indian cricket for many years now, his Test career has somehow failed to scale the heights he has escalated to with his limited overs exploits.

Not only that, Rohit has failed to make himself a certainty for Test squads. If one closely goes through the statistics of his relatively short Test career, Rohit's record certainly does not disappoint.

Beginning with back to back centuries, he followed it up with starts in most of his innings in his limited opportunities to maintain an average of around 40. But Kohli, Pujara and Rahane's consistency and ability to play big innings in the longer run have kept Rohit out of contention for a spot in the middle order - and rightly so.

With a wicketkeeper-batsman and an allrounder filling the middle order slot, Rohit's case in the middle order finds even fewer votes. However, Rohit - now that he has been picked for the tour of Australia - still has a great chance to revive his Test career with a batting position change.

India's openers struggled big time on the tour of England with KL Rahul only managing the odd big innings.

India look to have found an attacking opener in the form of Prithvi Shaw, but Rahul's hot and cold form is frustrating for the selectors. While India dropped Shikhar Dhawan after the Test series in England, they reinstated Murali Vijay for the upcoming Test series in Australia.

It is hard to foresee India playing two attacking openers at the same time - but a blend of youth and experience at the top of the order might still help India's case.

While Prithvi Shaw is a certainty for the opening slot, the second opener's position is still in question. Let us have a look at why Rohit's promotion to the top of the order can revive India's Test fortunes as well.

Attacking Nature

Rohit Sharma's limited overs career was also revived thanks to his promotion to

top

of the order.

Rohit Sharma's ODI average is more than any of India's mainstay openers ever - including Gavaskar, Srikkanth, Shastri, Sachin, Sourav, Sehwag and even his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan.

Rohit displayed his potential in his first ever T20I innings, when he came in for an injured, in-form Yuvraj Singh in a match which India had to win convincingly to make it to the semifinals of the inaugural ICC World T20.

An attacking half-century in only his second international innings after the top order had failed helped India win not only the match, but the tournament as well - with his cameo in the final taking the team to a respectable score.

While he was given many chances in the middle order, he failed to score big runs regularly. After Sachin's retirement, and when India decided to replace even Gambhir and Sehwag, Rohit seized the opportunity to grab the opening slot in ODIs along with Shikhar Dhawan. He scored multiple ODI centuries in 2013, including a double-century against Australia.

With a strike rate close to 140, Rohit Sharma is the only international cricketer with four T20I centuries. With most of his 25 limited-overs centuries coming at top of the order, Rohit's three centuries in Tests - though all in the middle order - have come against easy oppositions and all at home.

He does not have a single Test century outside India, having played in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Going by his past record, if there is any slot that can be experimented with Rohit Sharma, it is undoubtedly the opener's slot.

Experience and Confidence

With over 300 international caps, multiple series victories as captain and 11 years of experience, Rohit can do little wrong to the team's cause when compared to others.

Rohit Sharma has witnessed his share of ups and downs during the course of a substantial career. From getting just one game on his debut tour, his career kickstarted with stellar performances during India's maiden victories in the World T20 and the tri-series in Australia.

After missing the chance to play his first World Cup in 2011, Rohit came back with a bang as an opener, winning them the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and almost taking his team to the 2015 World Cup final.

Having won multiple IPL and Champions League titles for the Mumbai Indians as their captain, Rohit hasn't disappointed whenever he has got a chance to lead India - winning them multiple ODI and T20I tournaments.

A player who has garnered as much criticism as appreciation, Rohit Sharma should know by now, what is right and wrong for the team.

The opening position in Test cricket is often the most critical for any team. While an opener usually gets the liberty to attack, he is usually at the receiving end if the team fails to get off to a good start.

If Rohit Sharma gets even two games in the Test series, this could be a make or break for his Test career - looking at the way it has shaped out so far. Even in his latest Test innings - against South Africa at Centurion earlier this year - Rohit chose to attack despite the team struggling to save the match.

If any, such a nature is best suited to the opening slot - when the ball is hard and new, when most of the fielders are inside the circle and the team has enough wickets in hand to stabilize things even if a big fish fails to deliver.

Partnership with Prithvi

Though a generation apart, Rohit and Prithvi have played many matches together for Mumbai and led India at the international level.

Prithvi Shaw cemented his place - at least for some time - during the course of his maiden Test series against the West Indies. Shaw has been under the selector's radars for quite a while now, and the highlight of his competitive career was leading India to the Under-19 World Cup title earlier this year. While he is a certainty for the first Test, the second opener's slot is a bit shaky, looking at Rahul's inconsistency.

Prithvi might get an able partner in the form of his Mumbai teammate and captain Rohit Sharma. While Rohit has been captaining Mumbai Indians and his state side for quite a while now, Prithvi has played quite a few matches with him at various levels.

The two understand each other's game, have had a few match-winning partnerships for their home team and appreciate each other quite a lot.

It would be great to see two generations of Mumbai's batting masterclass open the Indian innings in the Test series in Australia. Running between the wickets should not be a problem with the two of them around, and the Australian pitches might just give their pair the perfect exposure to international cricket.