Gautam Gambhir, former Indian opening cricketer reckons that debutant Shubman Gill shouldn’t be dropped from India’s playing eleven if he gets out cheaply in a match or two.
The youngster made his Test debut in 2nd Test against Australia after opener Prithvi Shaw was dropped following the Adelaide Test debacle.
Gautam Gambhir Expect Team Management Not To Pick Shubman Gill On Hope Instead He Should Be Picked On Trust
Gautam Gambhir reckons that making a Test debut in a Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a privilege in itself for a raw young talent like Shubman Gill. He also wants the Indian team management to be patient with the youngster and not drop him if he failed to score and pile enough runs on board in initial matches.
“Only time will tell if Shubman Gill will be successful as an opening batsman. But getting an opportunity making your debut in a Boxing Day Test in Australia, it can’t get much bigger than that,” Gambhir was quoted as saying to Sports Tak.
“But again, I expect the team management not to pick him on hope. Pick him on trust. Because if you pick somebody on trust you end up giving him a longer opportunity or a longer run. When you pick someone on hope, you are only expecting I hope he does well,” he quipped.
“It will be very unfair on Shubman Gill if he opens the batting and gets to a 20-30 and then suddenly Rohit Sharma comes back and Gill finds himself outside the playing XI,” he added.
Back in 2019, Shubman Gill made his ODI debut and had to wait for nearly two years to get an opportunity into the national Test team. He has played only 3 ODIs till date whereas in 23 first-class matches he averages 68.78. The 21-year-old opener averages around 45 in List A matches.
Gautam Gambhir: Shubman Gill Should Be Picked On Trust And Should Be Given Longer Run
Gautam Gambhir also said that Shubman Gill should be backed the way the previous captain recently retired MS Dhoni showed support for future stars batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
“That’s not going to be fair on him. If you decide to pick Shubman Gill, pick him on trust and believe in him and probably give him a longer run like what Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma got under MS Dhoni,” Gambhir stated.
Back in 2018-19, Mayank Agarwal also made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test and he has exactly 1,000 runs in the Test format at an average of 52.63 in 12 matches. As far as the ongoing 4 Test series is concerned, India are trailing by 0-1 and are looking to make amends by staging a comeback after their eight-wicket loss in Adelaide following disastrous batting display in 2nd innings where the team registered their lowest Test score of 36.