Upbeat India and a comeback threat

Skipper Rohit says he will drop down the batting order as India take on Australia in the second Test in an Adelaide day-nighter

- Ashish Magotra

Cricket is a team sport, but at the same time, it is also about individual pursuits. The team may be doing well, but if you are doing poorly, they'll look past you because there is never a dearth of options, especially in India. So, once in the comfort zone, most players are reluctant to move out of it.

Skipper Rohit Sharma hasn't batted down the order in six years and he has had great success as an opener—in 37 matches, he has scored 2685 runs at an average of 44.01. Many would have expected him to slot back into his preferred position as soon as he was back with the team after missing the first Test.

But Rohit had other ideas, though, because as he saw KL Rahul bat in Perth, he just knew that this guy must continue at the top of the order.

"(Rahul) will be opening the batting. I'll be somewhere in the middle," Rohit told reporters on Thursday. "Those two guys at the top—just looking at this one Test match (in Perth)—they batted brilliantly."

"I was at home with my newborn in my arms and I was watching how KL batted and it was brilliant, to be honest. I felt there was no need to change that now. Maybe in the future things will be different. Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside India, he probably deserves that place at this point in time."