Opinion: Why Rohit Sharma should open the innings in the Australia-India 2018 series

There’s no denying the fact that it was a thrilling Test match for the visitors in Adelaide – the fans and cricket enthusiasts over the world were glued to their television sets as India went on to win the first game of the series in Adelaide on the final day.

With three more Tests remaining, India is eagerly looking forward to wrapping up the series. Though the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner has made the Aussie side a bit weaker, the Aussies were not far away from winning the match. The brilliance of Nathan Lyon kept the Aussies in the game until the final day.

Here’s a different approach India could adopt in the upcoming Tests – by making Rohit Sharma open the innings. After KL Rahul and Vijay failed to make a good start for India in the first innings, Rahul came back strongly in the second innings and helped India build a steady opening partnership.

But given the inconsistency of KL Rahul, there are chances that the talented cricketer might misfire in the second test match scheduled to start on December 14. But there’s a much safer and better option for Team India – by giving a chance to Rohit Sharma to open the Indian innings.

Rohit Sharma has an average of 38.90 from 45 innings in the longest format of the game with his 177 against West Indies in 2013 at Kolkata being his best innings till date and KL Rahul has an average of 37.13 from 53 innings.

Having established himself as an opener in ODI and T20s for India over the years, Rohit Sharma has never been given the chance to open the innings in a test match. Considering the fact that India has failed to build a steady opening partnership in test matches, making Rohit open the innings might be a game changer for India.

Can you imagine Virender Sehwag coming down to bat as a 4-down? No, absolutely not. Rohit Sharma is India’s best bet to open the innings. If Sharma gets an opportunity, we might get to see the Sehwag-style-aggressive play all over again.

In the first test match at Adelaide, Rohit Sharma came in to bat after Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, and Rahane. Whoever thought Rohit Sharma would make a good mark at that position has failed miserably. After having given him the opportunity to play the red ball cricket, he has not been awarded a position to showcase what he is best at doing – opening the innings.

If Rohit Sharma gets an opportunity to open the innings with Murali Vijay, it would be a different approach for team India. Rohit Sharma has the capability of getting the runs flowing which is why he is one among the top destructive openers in the world.

With India leading the series 1-0, making Sharma an opener will be a different and interesting approach India can adopt. With a talented line up of batsmen like Pujara, Kohli and Rahane down the list, the chances of India getting a steady partnership is very high. With team India likely to go with the match-winning squad, things could turn out to be interesting if Rohit Sharma is given an opportunity to open the innings for India at Perth.