Pujara: Rahul should bat no lower than No. 3 if Rohit opens

Perth has been won. On to Adelaide for the day-night Test next. And India have reinforcements arriving in the form of Rohit Sharma and, if all goes well between now and then, Shubman Gill. Should these two get into the XI straightaway though? Cheteshwar Pujara certainly thinks so, but feels the opening combination of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul shouldn’t be disturbed.

“I think, for some reason if we can carry on with the same batting order, like KL and Yashasvi to open, Rohit could come in at three, and Shubman could come in at five,” Pujara said in a chat with ESPNcricinfo. “If Rohit wants to open, KL should bat at No. 3. Nothing later than that. I think he has to bat top of the order, because it suits his game really well. I hope we don’t tinker around with that.”

That might well be the way it works out, with Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 0 from 23 balls and 25 from 71 balls in Perth, making way. But with Rohit, Jaiswal and Rahul, followed by Virat Kohli at No. 4, where does Gill slot in, if, indeed, he is fit for the game?

“Ideally No. 5. Because it allows him to come in at a time, even if we lose two wickets early, he is someone who can negotiate the new ball,” Pujara said. “But if he walks in after, say, 25 or 30 overs, he can play his shots. He can play his natural game. And in case we lose the first three wickets early, Gill walks in and saves Rishabh Pant for the old ball. [Pant] doesn’t have to face the new ball. I wouldn’t want him to walk in to bat when the ball is hard and new.”

That would mean Pant, who batted at No. 5 in Perth, going down a spot, and Dhruv Jurel, who was so impressive for India A against Australia A in Melbourne just before the first Test, going out after scores of 11 and 1 from No. 6.

Then come the allrounders, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar, in whatever order, because Pujara doesn’t want any changes to the bowling line-up in Adelaide. No R Ashwin. No Ravindra Jadeja. And no Prasidh Krishna or Akash Deep in place of Harshit Rana.

“There is no question about it,” Pujara said when asked the question. “This bowling attack has given us success. [Jasprit] Bumrah looked really good. [Mohammed] Siraj was very good. And then it was supported by Harshit. He bowled really well, you have to accept that. He was playing his first game [for India], still he ended up pitching the ball up.

“The reason he was chosen in this squad is because he can bat. It will be important in the second Test match that, in case we lose a few wickets early, if the lower-middle order needs to contribute, Washington can do that role”

Cheteshwar Pujara wants Washington Sundar to continue as the lone spinner

“In Australia, it’s very easy to get carried away and sometimes when you look at the pace of the pitch, it offers a bit more extra bounce… But he was still looking to hit the right spot, good length, try and hit the top of off, and he has that ability.

“So I think we should carry on with the same bowling attack. And Nitish also, he had a bit of a bowl. I felt that those four seamers are proper options and along with that, Washington Sundar.”

That last name could be a bit contentious. Washington, as Pujara accepted, was chosen more for his batting than his bowling, and there are two battle-hardened veterans in Ashwin and Jadeja sitting out, awaiting their turn. But Pujara would still go in with Washington.

“He [Washington] didn’t look really good when he started his bowling, but eventually he got a couple of wickets, he varied his pace, so Washy should be our spinner,” Pujara said. “Because he can bat well. The reason he was chosen in this squad is because he can bat. It will be important in the second Test match that, in case we lose a few wickets early, if the lower-middle order needs to contribute, Washington can do that role.”

The second Test, in Adelaide, starts after a bit of a gap, on December 6. Before that, India play a two-day pink-ball warm-up game against a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra.