Rohit Sharma had managed to score just 31 runs from five innings in that series
India had a torrid time in Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Their batting was in shambles, their bowling was over-reliant on Jasprit Bumrah’s genius and their confidence as a unit kept getting lower as the series progressed. It was evident that many things went wrong in the 3-1 beating they took against the World Test Championship holders.
Among them was the decision to switch the opening combinations. For the first Test, captain Rohit Sharma wasn’t available due to the birth of his second child which got KL Rahul a promotion to the opening slot alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. When Rohit returned, that combination continued but only until the third Test at the Gabba before switching back to Rohit and Jaiswal before reverting back to the Jaiswal-Rahul combination.
India’s successes with the openers was as fragmented as their positives in the series as Jaiswal went on to score 391 runs from five Tests while Rahul and Rohit had forgettable outings.
Speaking to former Australian captain Michael Clarke’s Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Rohit described how he went back and forth on his decision to open the innings after the first Test.
Rahul and Jaiswal put up a partnership of 201 in the second innings of the first Test win in Perth.
“When we went to Australia and I was watching the first Test while I had my new-born in my arms and loved what Jaiswal and Rahul were doing. That’s when I thought ‘Why change things which are going well?” It was a series we wanted to win desperately and thought ‘Let’s just go with it,”” Rohit said.
However, the pair managed to record partnerships of 0 and 12 in the second Test in Adelaide, followed by 4 and an unbeaten 8 in the drawn Test at the Gabba. Rohit batted at No.6 in Adelaide as he recorded scores of 3 and 6.
“But after the Adelaide Test, where I didn’t have a great game, I came back to the dressing room and thought ‘I should’ve opened. I rather fail where I’m good at. Then I thought of giving it (Jaiswal-Rahul opening) one more chance at Brisbane but that was a draw,” Rohit further added.
In the fourth Test in Melbourne, Rohit and Jaiswal added 8 and 25 for the first wickets as India lost by 184 runs. In the final Test in Sydney, Rohit was dropped from the playing XI, but it didn’t make much difference as Rahul and Jaiswal added 11 and 42 in a six-wicket loss.
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