Rohit Sharma A Better No. 6 Option Than Opener vs Australia? Report Makes Startling Claim

He is being encouraged to return to opening by the talking heads of Indian cricket but Rohit Sharma may just avoid being swayed by the proverbial outside noise and stick to the number six slot for at least the third Test against Australia in Brisbane starting this weekend. Rohit, who was on paternity break during the opening Test and scored 3 and 6 on his return during the 'Pink Ball' game, is facing calls for his return to the top in the batting order in place of KL Rahul, who too had an indifferent game in Adelaide after his heroics in Perth. If one looks at Rohit's statistics in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia), across all batting positions in 46 completed innings, he averages a shade less than 30 while in 20 innings as opener, he scores at 37.8 thanks largely to the successful English summer of 2021.

When PTI spoke to a BCCI Level 3 coach, who has previously worked at the National Cricket Academy, on technical aspects of the swashbuckler's game, he dissected Rohit's technique to explain why opening might not be a good option for the Indian captain at the moment.

"Rohit Sharma has had very limited footwork all his career, even when he was in his prime. Obviously, at 37 and half years, the reflexes have slowed down and he is picking the length a trifle late," the qualified batting coach told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

"The same Rohit will look very different in the IPL where you might still find him scoring a 35-ball-70 for Mumbai Indians with opposition having at least a couple of mid-130s domestic bowler," he added.

But then why is No. 6 better for Rohit in the third Test? The coach has a technical response for it.

"If you look at Rohit's dismissals even in India, he is getting squared up