After a lot of speculation around India's batting order, it's finally been settled that Rohit, who missed the first Test due to the birth of his second child, will shift from his usual role at the top of the order to let KL Rahul continue opening.

Rahul played two classical knocks in the Perth Test, including partnering with Yashasvi Jaiswal for a double-century stand in the second innings. He also looked solid with the pink ball in the warm-up game against the Prime Minister's XI, where Rohit batted at four.

Rohit Sharma has confirmed that he will bat in the middle-order in Adelaide, making it the first time in six years that he will not open in Test cricket.

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Rohit: Rahul deserves the opening spot

In the pre-match press conference, Rohit said: "I was watching KL Rahul's batting from home with my newborn in arms. He played brilliantly so there is no need to change his position."

"So based on what has happened and what Rahul has shown outside of India, he probably deserves that place at this point in time. It is something that has brought us success in the first Test. You have that one big partnership with Jaiswal on the other side, and you know, it probably won us the Test match. When you come here, in a place like Perth, and you get 500 runs or so, it’s such a massive tick in the box."

He added: "So I don't see why we need to change that. What I saw from the outside looked brilliant, and there was no need to change anything. It was actually pretty simple for me. Personally, not easy. But for the team, it made a lot of sense."

At Perth, Rahul and Jaiswal scored 201 runs across 63 overs, India's highest opening partnership against Australia. The decisive stand helped India set up a record target of 534 for the hosts, who eventually fell short of it by 295 runs.

This is the first time the India captain will bat in the middle order after being asked to open for the first time against South Africa in 2019. Out of 64 Tests Rohit has played so far, seven have been in Australia across three tours (2014/15, 2018/19 and 2021/22). He has made 408 runs at an average of 31.38 down under, with a fifty in each of the series.

Having recovered from a finger injury, Shubman Gill is also presumed to return in his usual No.3 spot. In that case, Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal are the likely omissions to accommodate the two.

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