Shubman Gill was dropped due to India’s required combination for the Boxing Day Test. (AP)
With the series locked 1-1 ahead of the fourth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Melboune Cricket Ground, India threw in a Boxing Day surprise when skipper Rohit Sharma announced a return to the top of the order and No. 3 batter Shubman Gill missed out on his spot in the XI on Thursday.
Gill, who had scores of 31 and 28 in the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide, fell for 1 in the previous outing in Brisbane. Having not struck a half-century outside Asia since his last tour to Australia in 2020-21, Gill’s position came under the scanner after skipper Sharma opted to move back to the top-order. It meant that in-form opener KL Rahul will move a rung down to three with Rohit pairing up with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Gill eventually ceded his spot in the side to all-rounder Washington Sundar, drafted in as the second spinner behind Ravindra Jadeja.
India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, however, affirmed that Gill’s string of low scores was not the primary concern for his snub ahead of what was expected to be his 100th international appearance.
“Unfortunately for Gill, he had to miss out due to how things panned out,” Nayar told reporters after stumps on Day 1.
“He understands that it’s the team requirement. It’s unfortunate. I wouldn’t say Gill has been dropped per se, it was just unfortunate that he couldn’t find his place in the XI in this game.”
Nayar insisted that an extra spinner in Sundar was assessed by the management after inspecting the pitch conditions. Sundar bowled 12 overs on the opening day and dismissed a well-set Marnus Labuschagne (72) before Australia moved up to 311 for six. “We felt looking at this pitch having Washington Sundar in the bowling attack will give us that variation, especially with the older ball. So against the likes of Travis Head and Alex Carey, who were getting lower-order runs, we felt having an offie in the ranks would bode well for us,” Nayar explained. “The thought process wasn’t to strengthen the batting. If there was over-emphasis on batting, then we would have kept Shubman [Gill] in the side,” Nayar said.
‘Booted out’
Former Australia batter Mark Waugh was surprised with India’s decision to exclude Gill, who had missed the series opener in Perth due to an injury.
“When Shubman Gill hurt his finger, they were desperate to bring him in, and now they have booted him out, and wanted an extra bowling option. Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy both can bowl and obviously Gill can’t,” Waugh was quoted as saying on commentary.
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