‘Dravid will be tempted to play Shubman Gill at 5 given his recent records,’ says ex-national selector

In absence of injured Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, India will be forced to make a few changes to their XI for the first Test against Australia in Nagpur. As KL Rahul has also returned to the setup, he is likely to take the opening slot alongside captain Rohit Sharma, whereas, KS Bharat is likely to start ahead of Ishan Kishan for the keeper-batter role at least in the first two Tests. So that leaves team management with just one slot to fill – the number 5th, for which two players are competing for – Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. 

While there is a temptation to start with Suryakumar given his different array of shots and his ability to put the opposition under pressure, a former national selector Devang Gandhi feels the head coach Rahul Dravid could be prompted to play the man-in-form Shubman Gill at number five instead. 

Gandhi said as the young right-hander had scored a double hundred for India ‘A’ against the Windies playing in the middle-order, and had also scored a hundred in the previous series against Bangladesh too, he could just get the nod ahead of Suryakumar. While talking to Times of India (TOI), the ex-national selector said,

“Shubman had a double hundred in West Indies playing for India ‘A’ in the middle-order. And in the last Test series that he played (against Bangladesh), he got a century. The fact that Gill plays spin as good as anybody else in the Indian team should also work in his favour, at least in the first Test,” Gandhi said.

On the other hand, India is also expected to play three spinners on a dry Nagpur track, and with Jadeja and Ashwin sure to start, it will be a toss-up between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. While a few feel the Chinaman, Kuldeep deserves an extended run in this format considering his recent exploits across formats, Gandhi has a different view to it. He said India must go ahead with Axar Patel as he has proved himself on these pitches and can bat too, giving India an edge over their opposition. 

“We should not forget that Axar, who is a finger spinner similar to Jadeja, has been phenomenal on dry Indian tracks. He can keep an end tight. Add to that his batting ability, which can be crucial on a pitch like this,” Gandhi added.

The first of the four-match Test series is about to begin on Thursday, February 9th in Nagpur while Delhi, Dharamsala and Ahmadabad to host remaining three Tests.