Drop ‘middle-order batter’ Rohit Sharma, give Dhruv Jurel a chance in IND vs AUS 4th Test

India cricket team’s experiment with skipper Rohit Sharma in the middle-order has clearly not worked so far in IND vs AUS Test series. The Hitman was forced to bat at number 6, a position that he returned to after six long years. Rohit failed to fire on all three occasions when he batted down the order in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, registering scores of 3, 6 and 10 in three innings. With the series currently levelled at 1-1, the IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test is a must-win for India. And some bold calls might need to be taken in order to save the series.

Why India should drop Rohit Sharma from IND vs AUS 4th Test

Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in the best of the form in the longest format of the game in the latter half of 2024. He has failed to break free from the shackles of poor form and his poor string of scores continues from the series against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home. In the latter half of 2024, Rohit has only managed to score 153 runs in 13 innings, a worrying stat that shows his struggles even as an opener.

With that being said, India’s gamble of allowing KL Rahul to open the innings in Down Under along with Yashasvi Jaiswal has paid off. The Karnataka batter has been arguably one of the best batters against the Australian bowlers while the rest of his teammates have more or less failed to fire. India shouldn’t opt to send Rahul back to the middle-order and instead leave the opening combo as is for IND vs AUS Boxing Day Test.

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This brings us to a pertinent question – should Rohit be given a long rope in the middle-order or should he simply pave way for Dhruv Jurel? The keeper-batter, who is a part of India’s squad for BGT, had quite a good run with the bat in the India A tour to Australia before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A seasoned middle-order batter, Jurel impressed with 80, 68, 11 and 1 in four innings. Moreover, he has been in Australia for nearly two months now and perhaps has a better understanding of the conditions while coming out to bat in the middle-order in comparison to Rohit. And not to forget, Jurel played consistent red-ball cricket in the domestic circuit before flying to Australia.

Jurel is more comfortable playing down the order, especially at number six and seven. In the limited opportunities that the keeper-batter has gotten in Tests so far, he has made the most of it, managing to amass 202 runs. Out of those, 144 runs have come when he has batted at number 7.

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