‘Shubman Gill scored big hundreds but SKY…’: Rohit Sharma opens up on team selection ahead of Nagpur Test

The selection of the playing XI will be an intriguing aspect to keep an eye on when India and Australia face off in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 on Thursday. Nagpur’s VCA Stadium is set to host the series opener, and speculation about the line-ups of both sides has already begun. Both India and Australia have carefully examined the pitch and have finalized their respective XIs, which will be revealed after the toss on Thursday.

It will be intriguing to witness which player will be given the opportunity to open alongside captain Rohit Sharma. The decision is between Shubman Gill and KL Rahul; the former has been in exceptional form lately, having scored multiple centuries in white-ball cricket. On the other hand, Rahul has been a part of the team for an extended period of time and is returning to the squad after a brief hiatus.

At the same time, the management must address the void left by Shreyas Iyer’s absence. If Rahul is named in the top order, Gill may miss out due to the in-form Suryakumar Yadav, who is eagerly awaiting his Test debut.

At the pre-match press conference, India captain Sharma spoke about both players and the value they bring to the team. However, he noted that the team management is still undecided on the lineup for the match in Nagpur. Sharma highlighted the importance of the players’ individual strengths and how they could be utilized to the team’s advantage. He also expressed his confidence in the team’s ability to make the right decision and come out victorious.

“Shubman has been in supreme form, a lot of big hundreds, on the other hand, SKY has shown what he brings to the range, but we have not decided whom we will go with,” said Rohit Sharma.

Rishabh Pant’s absence will have a significant impact on the series. The talented wicketkeeper-batter was instrumental in India’s triumphant series in Australia in 2020-21. Unfortunately, he is currently recovering from injuries sustained in a serious car accident on December 30, 2022.

Speaking about the wicketkeeper-batsman, Sharma asserted that they would miss the southpaw, but that there were enough players in the squad to fill the void. The India captain also revealed that they had had a productive discussion with the batters about the plans for the match, and expressed his hope that they would be able to execute it on Day One of the first Test.

“We will miss Rishabh Pant but we have guys to fill his role. We have had a good talk with the batters about their plans and hopefully, we will execute them from tomorrow onwards.”

India has selected four spinners in the 17-member squad for the first two Tests: Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. All four of them possess the potential to challenge the Australian batters, so it will be intriguing to observe which of them will be selected in the playing XI and who will be relegated to the bench.

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