KL Rahul vs Shubman Gill debate has become a major talking point following the conclusion of the third Test between India and Australia in Indore. And now former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has also weighed in with his views on the debate.
Rahul was dropped from the playing eleven for the third Test following a string of poor performances in Tests including in the ongoing series. The right-handed batsman managed to score only 38 runs in the first two Tests before being dropped. He was also sacked as the vice-captain of the Test team.
Gill, who has performed brilliantly in limited-overs cricket in the ongoing season, replaced Rahul in the playing eleven but failed to capitalise on the opportunity. On a rank-turner where most of the batsmen failed to get going, the youngster also failed to do well. He scored 21 and 5 in two innings as Australia thrashed India by 9 wickets to register a memorable win.
Ricky Ponting on KL Rahul vs Shubman Gill debate:
Following Gill’s twin failures in Indore, several quarters have called for Rahul’s inclusion in the playing eleven for the fourth Test. There is a view that Rahul failed to do well in the first two Tests due to tough conditions and should be backed more.
As far as Ricky Ponting is concerned, he believes that both Rahul and Gill should be in the playing eleven, should India qualify for the World Test Championship final. The legendary captain has suggested that Gill could open and Rahul could move down in the middle order in English conditions.
“With someone like KL Rahul having gone out of this side and Shubman Gill having come in, both these guys have played a bit of Test match cricket and you could potentially have both of those guys in the same team,” Ricky Ponting said on ICC review.
“Maybe Shubman could start at the top and KL could potentially move down into the middle order, because he’s played cricket in those (English) conditions before, albeit at the top of the order. But one thing we know about the UK is that the ball swings for long periods of time during the day. And if the overhead conditions are suitable, then the ball tends to swing right the way through an innings,” he added.
The fourth Test is scheduled to begin on Thursday (March 9) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India will be looking to get back to winning ways to seal the series as well as a spot in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.