Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border, legendary former cricketers have backed young batsman Shubman Gill who is yet to debut in tests to open the batting for Team India instead of Prithvi Shaw in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide starting December 17.
Shubman Gill showed good form with the bat in the second tour practice match against Australia A, scoring 43 and 65 runs, for which Sunil Gavaskar feels he is a better option than Prithvi Shaw who scored 0,19,40 and 3 in the four innings in two practice games for the series opener.
Sunil Gavaskar. Image Credit: Twitter.
Sunil Gavaskar : Shubman Gill Shown Good Form And Should Open With Mayank Agarwal In 1st Test
Shubman Gill flopped in 1st practice game scoring 0 and 29 but made up for the poor show in the next one scoring 43 and 65 which makes him in the running for opening along with Mayank Agarwal.
“I think Shubman Gill should open with Mayank for the first Test match because he’s shown good form. Allan Border was there for the games (practice games), (and) was very impressed with what he saw from Shubman Gill. So I would imagine that he should open with Mayank Agarwal for the first Test,” Gavaskar said.
Shubman Gill (Image Credit: Google)
Allan Border meanwhile, said that Shubman Gill’s technique seemed to be better-suited for Australian pitches than Prithvi Shaw, who flopped in the practice matches failing to score even a single 50 and highest being 40 in four innings in 2 games.
“I’ve been in Sydney the last couple of days, watching the Indian team against Australia A. I was impressed with Gill. I really think he’s got something about him, his technique. I know he’s young so he can play a few rash shots here and there, but he looks a seriously good player, this kid. He would be my pick out of the guys I saw.”
“I know you guys [rate] Shaw but it seems to me like he plays a shot-a-ball. Against the new ball, it looks good on flat tracks, but in Australia, you’ve got to be a little bit more watchful about your shot selection. He just seems a bit loose outside the off stump for me. If I’m the Indian selector, I’m looking very close at young Gill,” said Border.
Shubman Gill has played in 3 ODIs only and scored 49 runs with highest being 33. He is a regular member of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL playing since 2018 and top-scored for his side in IPL 2020 amassing 440 runs.
Sunil Gavaskar Backs Rishabh Pant To Play 1st Test
Sunil Gavaskar also backed Rishabh Pant to play the first Test ahead of Wriddhiman Saha who scored a fifty in the first practice match.
“It’s going to be a tough one for the selection committee because Rishabh played in all the four Test matches during India’s [last] tour and he also got a hundred. And he seemed to have got under the skin of some of the Australian players with his chirping behind the stumps.”
Rishabh Pant. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
“When you’re playing on pitches where the wicketkeeper has to stand up to the stumps, where the ball turns around a bit, that’s when you tend to take your best wicketkeeper – in which case, Wriddhiman Saha would be the obvious choice,” Gavaskar said.
Rishabh Pant scored 5 in the first innings in second practice match but scored a counter-attacking century in second innings by being unbeaten on 103 off only 73 balls.
