Rahul open to change in India's bolstered batting line-up

Recalled India opener KL Rahul has been diligently preparing for his maiden pink-ball Test and the prospect of batting under floodlights at Adelaide Oval, but was unwilling to shed any illumination on his team's revamped batting line-up.

Despite their thumping 295-run triumph in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series opener at Perth last month, India seem set to make at least two changes to the starting XI with Rahul's opening role one of those potential changes.

With skipper and regular opener Rohit Sharma returning from a stint of paternity leave, and number three Shubman Gill seemingly recovered from a thumb injury the visitors will field their strongest possible batting array.

The likely casualties from Perth Stadium are Devdutt Padikkal who filled in for Gill at first drop, and reserve wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel who slotted in at six, which means either Rohit or Rahul will need to shift from opening to lower-middle order.

"I've been told, but I've also been told not to share it," Rahul said prior to India training at Adelaide Oval today when asked where he was likely to bat come Friday's first day.

"You'll have to wait until day one, or when the captain comes in (for media conference) tomorrow."

Given his returns of 26 and 77 against Australia's new ball attack on the lively Perth pitch, it would seem straightforward that he remains at the top with exciting young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who plundered a memorable 161 in India's second innings.

However, despite beginning his Test tenure more than a decade ago batting at five or six, Rohit has since forged a reputation as one of the most destructive openers in world cricket at both Test and limited-overs levels.

Add the reality of Rohit's captaincy and the historic tradition of skippers' deciding on a team's batting order, and the final make-up seemingly rests on whether he prefers returning to his former role or creating minimal change by slipping into number six.

The last time Rohit batted at six for India in Tests was Boxing Day against Australia in 2018, but he might be tempted to revisit history given his truncated preparation that has featured just one competitive hit during last weekend's rain-affected Prime Minister's XI game in Canberra.

And as Rahul noted today, opening against a new pink ball adds a further level of complexity to an already demanding skills set.

"This will be my first pink-ball Test match so I don't have game experience as much as some of the others that have played," Rahul said today.

"Whatever little we have trained and played the practice game (in Canberra), I felt like it was just a little different to the red ball in terms of how well you see the ball and how well you pick up the ball from the bowler's hand.

"That's been a bit of a challenge but we've got a bit of time.

"We've been training hard and hopefully by the time the game starts we will have had enough practice sessions and we'll get used to what the pink ball does.

"The ball seems a bit harder than the red ball, and while fielding as well you can feel it hitting your hand a lot quicker and a lot harder.

"The same with batting, it just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball.

"It does seam around a little bit more than the red ball.

"That's the challenge we're looking forward to."

Rohit might also be reluctant to disrupt the newly forged bond between Jaiswal and Rahul, who was omitted from India's Test team for the final two games of the shock home defeat to New Zealand before being recalled in the skipper's absence.

Rahul had not previously batted with 22-year-old Jaiswal who is making his maiden visit to Australia, but was able to impart some sage advice to the brilliant left-hander before and during their match-winning stand of 201 at Perth Stadium.

The senior partner recalled the doubts and deficiencies he took into his debut match against Australia at the MCG a decade ago, and counselled the youngster on the importance of surviving the initial 25-30 deliveries faced in such unfamiliar conditions.

The wisdom clearly resonated with Jaiswal – dismissed for a duck in the first innings at Perth when driving loosely to be caught at gully – who batted almost five hours in the second to post his fourth score of 150-plus from just 28 Test innings.

"I saw a little bit of myself when I was here 10 years ago (in Jaiswal), opening the batting for the first time – a lot of doubts, a lot of nerves, and you keep doubting your own game," Rahul said today.

"There's a lot that happens in your head, so the only thing you can do is slow things down, try and take a few deep breaths and try and focus on one thing.

"And that's what was passed on to me by my fellow opening partner back then (in 2018) Murali Vijay, so I just passed that on to him.

"Ten years ago, it was my first Test series.

"I had watched Australia-India Test series growing up, waking up at five in the morning and watching the games with my father.

"So it was surreal to be here at that moment.

"There was a lot more going on in my head at that time and I honestly feel like I wasn't really as sure as I am today."

Gill seems certain to regain his place even though he continues to have his damaged left thumb heavily strapped and took no part in a spirited ground fielding training drill at Adelaide Oval last night.

However, the right-hander batted in the nets without apparent discomfort today and yesterday and he practiced close catching which indicates he may be deployed at short-leg rather than his usual specialist spot in the slips.

Upon completing a series of catching drills today while his teammates were in the nets, Gill received a hug from the team's fielding coach to suggest he had passed the fitness test and was clear to play.

The only other potential change to India's starting XI is the inclusion of either veteran spin-bowling allrounder Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja at the expense of 25-year-old off-spinner and middle-order batter Washington Sundar.

But Ashwin seemingly remains out of favour despite his record at Adelaide Oval where he is India's most successful spinner (16 wickets at 30.43 from three Tests), while Jadeja's left-arm spin is considered less potent against Australia's left-handed batters.

Rahul confirmed India had gained huge confidence from the scale and mode of their victory at Perth Stadium where Australia had never previously lost a Test.

He also conceded it's an altogether new challenge switching to the pink-ball format at Adelaide Oval where the home team similarly remains unbeaten in day-night Tests since the historic first in 2015.

"It's a different place, different conditions, pink ball so we take the confidence from that game (Perth) and use it in this one," Rahul said.

"One thing that has been spoken a lot in the dressing room is too win sessions and not really worry about winning the whole game, or talk about what happens on day four or day five.

"It's just about winning each session, so we're trying to do that again."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad (for second Test): Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal