Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri questioned the decision to drop Shubman Gill from the Playing XI in the fourth Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rohit Sharma returned to his opening slot, while KL Rahul was demoted to No.3 slot, forcing the team management to bench Gill. After playing two Tests against the Pat Cummins-led team, Shubman was not retained in the playing unit.
The 25-year-old scored 60 runs in three innings at an average of 20 at the Adelaide Oval and Brisbane. Gill was among the top performers for India in the longest format in 2024, scoring his runs at an average of over 43 with three hundreds in 12 outings.
Speaking on the ICC review, Shastri expressed unhappiness.
“Shubman Gill’s average was over 40 in 2024 but he was not included in the Playing XI, which is a shame. No many players recorded that kind of average. I think he was touching 43 or 44. It would have been tough for him to accept his removal as he was in fine form in 2024,” he said.
“It is surprising to see Gill sitting on the bench. How can he be out of the playing unit? I don’t know whether he will be called back in the team or not. It is tough to explain as a batter who averaged over 40 was made to sit out the team,” he added.
The move to drop Gill backfired as Australia defeated India by 184 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Leave a Reply