Despite captain Rohit Sharma’s availability, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul opened the innings for India during its day-night practice match against Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Sunday.
Rohit, who usually opens the innings with Jaiswal, was unavailable due to personal reasons during India’s 295-run win over Australia last week in the first Test of the ongoing five-match series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In his absence, Jaiswal and Rahul opened in Perth and put up a crucial 201-run stand in the second innings.
The decision to open with Jaiswal and Rahul against Prime Minister’s XI possibly indicates the team management’s strategy to accommodate both Rohit and Rahul in the line-up for the upcoming day-night Test in Adelaide, which begins on December 6.