Will Rohit bat in middle-order once again in the longest format?

AS India won the toss and opted to bowl in what was a mutually agreed 50-over-a-side pink-ball encounter against Prime Minister XI in Canberra on Sunday, there was one significant change in the line-up.

- GOMESH S

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain and regular opener who missed the first Test in Perth, was slotted at No. 5 in the team sheet.

Since the success in Perth and the stability KL Rahul has shown alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, whether Sharma should walk in as an opener or not has been a raging debate. Conventionally, Sharma slots right back in his position while Rahul would have been moved back to the middle order. After all, Sharma has two centuries to show this year, both against England, and Rahul has been a middle-order batter for a while.

But with the circumstances changing, India turned to Rahul's experience at the top in the absence of Sharma for the first Test. And Rahul came to the party with two patient knocks of 26 and 77 while looking the most comfortable batter in the middle. With that and Sharma's recent dip in form in the home season, there are doubts as to whether India should change the successful combination to accommodate the captain.