Rohit Sharma batting record at No 5 in Test cricket

Indian captain Rohit Sharma is set to return to the Test fold after missing the series opener against Australia. With KL Rahul doing well and giving a good account of himself at the top, Rohit in all likelihood is set to slot in at No 5 in the day-night Test in Adelaide

However, No 5 hasn't been a great batting number for Rohit in the 16 innings he has played in that position, all outside India

Out of 9 Tests he has played at No 5, four were in South Africa, two each in Sri Lanka and New Zealand and the remaining one in the West Indies. Hence, if Rohit bats at No 5 in Adelaide, it would be his first-ever innings in that position in Australia

In 16 innings, Rohit has scored 437 runs at an average of 29.13 at No 5 in Test cricket including three fifty-plus scores

Rohit Sharma has had a couple of 70-plus scores batting at No 5, one at Eden Park in 2014 against New Zealand and the other, a 79 against Sri Lanka at P Sara Oval in 2015, his highest score at that position. However, he has largely remained inconsistent

Rohit's best has come at No 6 in Tests before the move to the top, opening the innings. Rishabh Pant has been batting at No 5 but if Rohit does move to the middle-order role, the trio of Kohli-Rohit-Pant before the likes of Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy gives a solid look to the middle order

Rohit Sharma's scores at No.5 in Tests - 14, 6, 0, 25, 11, 10, 10 (vs SA); 72, 19, 31* (vs NZ), 79, 34, 26, 50 (vs SL) and 9, 41 (vs WI)

It remains to be seen if the captain himself and the team management take that call (of dropping Rohit to No 5 in the middle order). Rahul has done nothing wrong and looked the most assured while opening the innings in Australia. All signs are there but in Indian cricket, rarely expected has happened