Rohit Sharma fails first test as opener in red-ball cricket
Rohit Sharma's first outing as an opener in red-ball cricket didn't go to plan as he departed cheaply in South Africa's warm-up game against the Board President's XI at Vizianagaram on Saturday.
Opening the batting with Mayank Agarwal, the BPXI captain fell on the second ball to Vernon Philander for a duck.
This was Rohit's first test as an opener after the chairman of selectors MSK Prasad announced that India are looking at the Mumbaikar and a regular white-ball opener to start the innings for India.
However, the start won't be the one he imagined as this could be the last opportunity for the limited-overs vice-captain to seal a place in the Test side as the middle-muddle seems to be settled with Hanuma Vihari's gutsy knocks in Australia and West Indies.
Rohit, who travelled with the squad to the Caribbean islands, didn't get to play either of the two Tests as India persisted with Ajinkya Rahane and Vihari, both of whom slammed centuries as India won the two-match series 2-0.
Following the snubs and failures from KL Rahul at the top, voices of pushing Rohit up the order got louder and when the squad was selected, Prasad insisted that the 32-year-old will be given an opportunity to bat at the top while Shubman Gill was selected as a back-up option ahead of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal.
Rohit so far has played 27 Tests since making his debut in 2013 against West Indies in Kolkata and scored 1585 runs at an average of 39.62. He has hit 10 fifties and three centuries with the latest fifty coming against Australia in Melbourne, a match that India won by 137 runs. It was also the last game Rohit played in whites for the side before the game against South Africa in Vizag, which could see him return to the side at the top.
