Melbourne, December 26
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has only played one Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where he managed to impress the cricket fans back in 2018 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The right-hand batter managed to score 68 runs with the best score of 63* at the MCG. Across all formats, the 37-year-old has slammed 505 runs in the 13 innings so far where he managed to remain not out two times. These runs have come at a strike rate of 85.88 and at an average of 45.90. He has managed to score two centuries and fifties each on this ground.
So far in the series, Rohit has had horrid outings in the middle order. Returning to the team for the Adelaide pink-ball Test, the 'Hitman' had made a decision to bat down the order due to the immense success of the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL during the Perth Test win. On his return, Rohit could score just 19 runs in three innings at number six, with best score of 10. Despite this though, he still has an average of 48.00 in 18 Tests he has played as a number six, with 1,056 runs and three centuries/six fifties.
In the ongoing Test season which started with the home Bangladesh series, Rohit has scored a poor 152 runs in seven games at a shockingly low average of 11.69, with just one fifty to his name. This year, he has made 607 runs in 13 Tests and 24 innings at a sub-par average of 26.39, with two centuries and two fifties. His best score is 131.
Since taking up opening in 2019, Rohit has been one of India's top-performing stars in whites. In 42 Tests as an opener, Rohit has scored 2,685 runs in 64 innings at an average of 44.01, with nine centuries and eight fifties to his name. His best score is 212. He has been India's top performer in the history of the ICC World Test Championship, with 2704 runs at an average of 42.25, with nine centuries and eight fifties in 39 Tests and 67 innings.
With the series level at 1-1, both sides will be playing the much-anticipated Boxing Day Test intending to secure an all-important series lead needed to push a case for the ICC World Test Championship final.
Australia XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
India's squad for fourth and fifth Tests: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal, Tanush Kotian.