Why is Rohit Sharma not opening the innings for India in 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test?

KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal will come out to open the innings for India in the second 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Test in Adelaide, despite the return of the skipper and first-choice opener for the last four years, Rohit Sharma. The latter will bat in the middle-order, as he had confirmed on Wednesday.

Speaking in a press conference on the eve of the Test, Rohit said he felt "there is no need to change" the Rahul-Jaiswal combination which put up a brilliant 201-run stand in the third innings in the first Test in Perth. Their confidence against the new ball and then smart change of gears allowed India to declare at a mammoth 487/6 and win by 295 runs.

“These two guys (Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal) batted brilliantly," Rohit said. "I was at home with my newborn in my arms, and I was watching how KL (Rahul) batted. It was brilliant to watch, and I felt that there is no need to change that (opening combination) now. But yes, personally it was not easy, but for the team, this (decision) made sense.”

Rohit's call has been hailed as a "selfless" move by some Indian experts. However, for India, it is also a sensible idea. The skipper has been quite susceptible against the new ball of late and Australia's pacers would've come up with plans to exploit that with the pink ball, which offers more movement than the red cherry.

However, this will be the first time Rohit has not opened in a Test since moving to the top in 2019. In the five-year phase, he scored runs in a variety of ways -- defensive big knocks, high-intent centuries and even T20-style cameos to unsettle the opposition.

India's playing 11 with Rohit Sharma in the middle-order

Shubman Gill also returned to India's 11 from injury. He and Rohit Sharma replaced Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal, while Ravichandran Ashwin came in for Washington Sundar.

India's 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj