'Where would Australia not like to see Rohit Sharma?': Shastri's 'dangerous' message to Gambhir on IND's Adelaide puzzle

Ravi Shastri weighed in on India's batting line-up for the 2nd Test against Australia in Adelaide.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, on Wednesday, backed Rohit Sharma to return to middle-order batting duties for the first time in six years for the second Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, which will be played in Adelaide, thus calling for KL Rahul to continue opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Ravi Shastri has his say on Rohit Sharma's batting position

Rohit had missed the opening Test match in Perth last week owing to the birth of his second child. The 37-year-old is now all set to return to captaincy duties at the Adelaide Oval, which will host a pink ball Test starting Friday. However, there have been major discussions on where Rohit should bat. Ideally, he should have assumed his role as an opener, but with his replacement in Perth, KL Rahul, having scored a valiant 77 en route to a record 201-run match-winning opening stand, many reckon he should Rohit should drop down the order and not disturb the opening combination.

Shastri, speaking on the ICC Review, said that the experienced Rohit should bat at No. 5 for India, explaining that it will be a position Australia would least expect him at on his return to the team.

“It’s the right mix of experience and youth in the setup, so whether he opens the batting or goes in the middle order, the choice is his,” Shastri said.

“He’s experienced enough to see where he’s most dangerous when it comes to Australia. Where would Australia not like to see him? That’s the position he should choose. And he’s the leader of the pack, so he can afford to do that.”

Rohit is no stranger to middle-order batting duties, given he had started his international career as a batter down the order. In Test cricket, he has played 41 innings at No. 5 or lower, scoring 1474 runs at 43.45, with nine fifties and three centuries. However, the last time he batted outside the top 2 was in the 2018/19 tour of Australia, where he had scored a crucial half-century in Melbourne.

Shastri backs Rahul to open, Gill at No. 3

The legendary all-rounder said that Rahul finding his groove as an opener - 77 in second innings in Perth and unbeaten 27 in the pink-ball warm-up match in Canberra - is another reason why Rohit should bat in the middle order.

“I think he (Rahul) should carry on (opening) because Rohit has not had much time since he’s come here (Australia),” Shastri said.

“Very quickly he had to play that Prime Minister’s XI game. But I would say carry on with the same setup. He [Rohit] can bat at five or six.”

Besides Rohit, Shubman Gill will also return to the playing XI, having missed the series opener due to a thumb injury. While this addition also added to India's Adelaide puzzle, Shastri reckoned it made India's batting line-up one of the most formidable recently.

“The fact that Shubman Gill is fit as well makes it a very strong Indian side,” Shastri said.

“I would say in the last 10-15 years, of all the sides that have come out to Australia, you get the feeling that this is one of the strongest batting line-ups simply because of the experience.

“You have Shubman fit, bats at three. Rohit’s fit, he comes back and plays instead of (Devdutt) Padikkal and (Dhruv) Jurel.

“But the bowling, I won't touch. I'll keep it the same because you'd rather have the same line-up.”