Indian captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed that KL Rahul will open the innings in the second Test match against Australia. Rahul was able to grab his opportunity with both hands in the opening Test at Perth as he returned with scores of 26 and 77 in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who missed out due to personal reasons.

Rahul added 201 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings, which is the highest opening alliance for India in Australian conditions. Rohit revealed that he will bat in the middle order as Rahul was magnificent in the first Test and thus he took the decision to demote his batting position.

“He will be opening the innings, and I will bat somewhere in the middle,” Rohit Sharma said during the pre-match press conference in Adelaide on Thursday.

“The way KL batted, I was watching from home with a newborn baby in my arms. He played brilliantly, so there is no need to change now; things might be different in the future—the way KL bats overseas, so he deserves that spot at this point in time,” he added.

Rohit added it was an easy decision to make from the team’s point of view and feels Rahul deserves to open in overseas conditions.

“The way he batted and his partnership with Jaiswal was instrumental in that first test win. The way he has batted outside India, he deserves it. I will bat somewhere in the middle. It was a fairly simple decision. Personally, it wasn’t easy (as a batsman) but for the team, it was an easy decision to make,” Rohit added in the same presser.

The second Test match between Australia and India, which will be a pink-ball game, will be played at Adelaide Oval from December 6 onwards.