Abhishek Nayar defends Rohit's return to top of Indian batting order, says Sundar replacing Gill adds variety to attack

India skipper Rohit Sharma decided to return to the top of the batting order for the fourth Test against Australia in Melbourne after the move to the No 6 position in Adelaide and Brisbane hardly improved his form that has taken a major hit since September. Rohit’s return to the top of the batting order, though, meant KL Rahul – who had shone as an opener in Perth and Brisbane – moved to No 3 and Shubman Gill was benched.

India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, though, defended the move, saying it was in the best interest of the ‘Hitman’ as well as the current holders of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for Rohit to return to the top of the batting order.

“Yes, Rohit will come up in the order and more likely than not, he will open the innings. That was the thought process. Unfortunately for Gill, just how things spanned out, he had to miss out,” Nayar said after stumps on Day 1 of the fourth Test.

“I just feel for a young player in a position like that, a big day, he wants to make his mark. He understands it’s the team’s requirement and it’s unfortunate, but I wouldn’t say that he’s been dropped per se. It’s just unfortunate that he couldn’t find his place in this game,” the former Mumbai stalwart said but the explanation lacked conviction.

Nayar added that bringing spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar in place of Gill also shored up their bowling attack while ensuring India had decent batting options till No 7.  He added that having an off-spinner operating alongside a left-arm orthodox spinner would help India take wickets with the older ball at a time when the pacers don’t find much help, thereby preventing the Aussies from escaping from tight situations with a big partnership or two.

“A lot of the decisions when they are made, and the process of it being made, the communication is always there and transparency is there. It’s pretty obvious that we felt in these conditions, looking at the pitch, having Washy in the bowling attack will give us that variation, especially towards the end once the ball gets old,” he said.

“Post the 50 overs, we felt that was an area that we wanted to get better at. We felt Washy could give us that solidarity with Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), especially the way Travis Head and Alex Carey were getting runs lower down. So we felt having an offie in the ranks will provide us with that.”

Rohit has scored just 19 runs in three outings so far, including 10 in the third Test at The Gabba that ended in a draw . The India Test and ODI skipper has scored just one half-century since September and will be eager to end one of his worst runs with the bat sooner rather than later, preferrably with a century either in Melbourne or in Sydney.

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Australia ended Day 1 on 311/6 with each of the top-four batters scoring half-centuries. Sam Konstas smashed his way to an entertaining 60 off 65 balls on debut and added 89 for the opening wicket with Usman Khawaja (57). The pair of Marnus Labuschgne (72) and Steven Smith (68 not out) carried on from where the openers left off to ensure the hosts ended the day in a strong position despite a late fightback led by in-form pacer Jasprit Bumrah (3/75).