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Indian captain Rohit Sharma will bat in the middle order against Australia during the second Test of the ongoing five-match series between the two teams.
Rohit Sharma has scored 1587 runs as middle-order batter for India in Tests. (Picture Credit: X/@BCCI)
Indian captain Rohit Sharma missed the first Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia due to the birth of his second child. In his absence, KL Rahul opened for India along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, and in the second innings, the duo added 201 runs for the first wicket. After Jaiswal and Rahul created a new record of the highest opening partnership for India in Australia, many former greats and experts of the game felt that India should not change the opening combination for the second Test as well, which is scheduled to start on Friday (December 6) at Adelaide Oval.
While speaking to reporters in Adelaide on Thursday, Rohit confirmed that he will bat in the middle order and Rahul-Jaiswal will continue to open.
Rohit, who started his Test career as a middle-order batter, last played in the middle order during the Melbourne Test of the 2018-19 series between India and Australia.
Ahead of the start of the 2nd India-Australia Test, here’s a look at Rohit Sharma’s record as a middle-order batter in Tests.
107 runs as No. 3 batter
Rohit, who made his Test debut for India against the West Indies in November 2013, has batted at No. 3 in five innings of four matches. In his maiden Test as a No. 3 batter, Rohit scored 53 and 39 runs against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2015. But Rohit failed to build on that show and got out after making 6, 9, and 0 runs in the next three innings against Bangladesh (in Fatullah), Sri Lanka (in Galle), and South Africa (in Delhi).
4 runs as No. 4 batter
Rohit has batted at No. 4 for India only once in his Test career. He scored four runs from 16 balls in the second inning of the India-Sri Lanka Test played in Galle from August 12 to 15 in 2015.
437 runs as No. 5 batter
Rohit, who batted at No. 6 for India in his first two Tests, came out to bat at No. 5 in the next four matches but failed to live up to the expectations. He registered scores of 14, 6, 0, and 25 runs against South Africa in the two red-ball matches played in Johannesburg and Durban, respectively. Rohit travelled with the Indian team to New Zealand in 2014 and batted at No. 5 in three out of four innings and registered scores of 72, 19, and 31 runs.
His next two Tests as a No. 5 batter were against Sri Lanka in August 2015, and he registered scores of 79, 34, 26, and 50 runs. The right-handed batter from Mumbai scored 9 and 41 runs at No. 5 against the West Indies in August 2016 and 11, 10, and 10 against South Africa in January 2018.
1037 runs as No. 6 batter
Rohit has enjoyed batting at No. 6 the most in Test cricket. He made his Test debut against the West Indies as the No. 6 batter in 2013 and scored back-to-back centuries in the first two matches. Rohit has come out to bat at No. 6 in a total of 25 innings from 2013 to 2018, and with the help of three centuries and six fifties, he scored 1037 runs. His batting average at No. 6 is 54.57.
Rohit Sharma’s performance in Tests by batting position
| POSITION | SPAN | MATCHES | INNINGS | NOT OUT | RUNS | BEST SCORE | AVERAGE | STRIKE RATE | 100/50 | 0 | 4/6s |
| 1st | 2021-2024 | 18 | 29 | 1 | 1226 | 161 | 43.78 | 53.00 | 3/5 | 0 | 147/17 |
| 2nd | 2019-2024 | 24 | 35 | 2 | 1459 | 212 | 44.21 | 65.30 | 6/3 | 2 | 172/39 |
| 3rd | 2015 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 107 | 53 | 21.40 | 41.63 | 0/1 | 1 | 9/4 |
| 4th | 2015 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4.00 | 25.00 | 0/0 | 0 | 1/0 |
| 5th | 2013-2018 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 437 | 79 | 29.13 | 48.55 | 0/3 | 1 | 38/10 |
| 6th | 2013-2018 | 16 | 25 | 6 | 1037 | 177 | 54.57 | 60.71 | 3/6 | 2 | 103/18 |
While Rohit has not confirmed his batting position and only said, “I will bat somewhere in the middle,” it remains to be seen at which position he comes out to bat. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant bat at No. 3, 4, and 5, respectively, for India in Test cricket these days, and the team management is highly unlikely to change their batting position, which leaves Rohit with the possibility of batting once again at No. 6.
