WI vs IND: ‘He will have to…’ – Former Indian opener opines on India’s new No. 3 Shubman Gill’s technique

India continued their dominance in the opening Test versus West Indies, in Dominica, during Day Two on Thursday (July 13). Resuming the day at 80 for no loss, after the Windies fell for 150, Indian openers Rohit Sharma (103) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (143 not out) put India on top with their 229-run stand before they went to stumps at 312 for 2, leading by 162 runs. While Jaiswal — who became the 17th Indian to score a century on Test debut — Shubman Gill also made heads turn. He had his first stint at the No. 3 spot and fell flat.

Prior to the Test series opener, captain Rohit revealed that Gill had asked the team management to use him at No. 3, instead of playing as an opener. However, the right-hander failed to get going and departed for six. After the day’s play, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra opined on Gill and feels he will have to tweak his batting technique at his new batting slot. 

Speaking on his Youtube channel after Day 2, Chopra said, “Shubman Gill came at No. 3. It is difficult and he will realize that. He has played the majority of his innings in first-class cricket as an opener. He came at No. 3 here after a huge partnership. He plays with slightly hard hands. So his method of defending with hard hands, he will have to change it slightly as he plays more in Test matches.”

Meanwhile, Chopra also opined on Virat Kohli’s unbeaten knock. Kohli came out to bat after Rohit’s dismissal and stitched an unbroken 72-run third-wicket stand with centurion Jaiswal before second day’s play ended. The former Indian captain is batting on 36 and will be eager to break his five-year-long overseas century drought in the purest format of the game. 

Talking about Gill, he will be gutted to miss out on scoring big in the first innings. However, he will look to make amends in his next outing. 

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