Rohit Sharma will not open with Yashaswi Jaiswal in pink ball Test

India skipper Rohit Sharma said he will bat "somewhere in the middle-order" in the day/night Test against Australia starting here on Friday, allowing K L Rahul to continue in the opening slot. Rahul looked solid with scores of 26 and 77 as he and centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal combined for a 201-run opening stand during the second innings of the first Test in Perth, which India won by 295 runs.

"He (Rahul) will open the innings. I will play somewhere in the middle," Rohit told reporters on the eve of the second Test.

Rohit is returning to the side after a short paternity break for the birth of his son. The skipper said that continuity wouldbe beneficial for the team.


"We want result, we want success. Those two guys at the top they batted brilliantly in Perth. I was watching from home. Rahul was brilliant to watch. He deserves that place at this point in time."

"There is no need to change that now, may be things will be different in future. Personally not easy for me (to move down) but for the team it made a lot of sense," said Rohit adding that he will bat somewhere in the middle.

Rahul, who spoke to the media on Wednesday, had said that he would have been comfortable batting at any position as he has long overcome the "mental challenges" of being a floater in the line-up.