Ravi Shastri, former coach of the Indian cricket team, thinks that Shubman Gill deserves another chance to play in the remaining tests against Australia. Gill has been performing well but he was not picked for the first two Tests against Australia. The selectors chose KL Rahul, who is not been in good form, instead of Gill.
Gill proved himself by hitting his first century in Test cricket against Bangladesh in December. He has also scored four centuries in white-ball cricket for India this year, including a brilliant 208 in an ODI against New Zealand. These performances have made him a strong candidate for selection in the Indian team.
Despite being left out of the first two Tests against Australia, Shastri believes that Gill should be given another opportunity to prove himself. He thinks that Gill has the talent and skill to perform well in Test cricket and help India win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Ravi Shastri in ICC Review episode
In a recent episode of The ICC Review, Ravi Shastri talked to host Sanjana Ganesan about the Indian cricket team. Shastri used to be the coach of the Indian team. He said that he thinks it is a good time for Shubman Gill to play for India. Gill has played for India before, but he has not been playing in the team recently.
“He (Gill) is that good at the moment and whether he scores or doesn’t score, on form, on merit, he deserves a chance,”
Shastri said.
“When you have a player that confident and then his performances of late and the way he’s batted there’ll be a lot of players in that team thinking within themselves ‘How’s this guy not playing? They must be thinking, to be honest, it’s like that, the dressing room. I know that dressing room. They’ll be feeling, Gee man, this guy is hot,”
the former India coach said.
The Indian cricket team will play their third Test against Australia on Wednesday in Indore. If Shubman Gill is chosen to play in this Test, the selectors will have to decide who else will play with him. They have many options to choose from.
KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara are experienced players who normally play at the top of the batting order. However, they have not played well in this series so far. This means that the selectors may consider giving someone else a chance to play instead.
Shubman ahead KL says Shastri
Ravi Shastri thinks that Shubman Gill will be chosen to play at the top of the Indian batting order in the third Test against Australia. Shastri believes that this change will not affect the balance of the team too much. The Indian team is trying to win all the matches in this series and also qualify for the final of the ICC World Test Championship in June.
“Not at all. I mean, it’s straight up. It comes down to performance,” Shastri noted, when asked about how making changes to a winning team may affect chemistry. You stick it on the board. This is the performance. It’s a tough thing for a coach. I remember I had to do it many times, where you just sit down, and explain to the player.”
Shastri said.
he also has said something for KL Rahul
The former player has suggested that KL Rahul should take a break from cricket. He thinks that a break will be good for Rahul because it will give him time to rest and recover. It will also help Rahul regain his form and play better when he comes back to the team.
“Sometimes a break for a player in those times is far better because you can go away, work on his game and come back stronger. I remember in my tenure, in the first Test at England, Pujara was dropped and he came back with hundreds. KL Rahul was dropped in Australia in 2019 and came back strongly too,”
Shastri said.
India will face Australia in Indore in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar-Trophy scheduled to begin on March 1.
For more sports-related updates, follow us on Twitter
