Former India player and Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has given a solution to the Indian Team’s ongoing selection debacle at the top of the order in Rohit Sharma’s absence. The Indian captain is likely to miss the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series opener in Perth, leaving the management the task of picking Yashasvi Jaiswal’s batting partner at the top of the order as well. Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri has backed Shubman Gill to open the innings as well.
“That’s a tough one and selectors have a choice. You can push Shubman (Gill) back up the order and he has opened in the past in Australia. Otherwise, you’ll have to then make an alternative. Easwaran hasn’t done that well (for India A in Australia). But it’s how he’s batting in the nets, how Rahul is batting in the nets. But that Shubman Gill option is also there,” Shastri said on the latest edition of the ICC Review.
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“I think he can easily play as a specialist batter. What impressed me most was his temperament, his calmness when the chips were down and the tightness he brought to his game – especially under pressure. Under pressure, you can see a lot of players struggling. You can see them being fidgety. You can see them being all over the shop. You can see those nerves coming through. But in this guy’s case, his temperament stood out,” Shastri again shared.
As far as the bowling composition was concerned, Ravi Shastri added that bouncy conditions in Perth be helpful with a seam-heavy bowling attack. However, India have named three spinners in the squad, with the in-form Washington Sundar being there alongside the veteran pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
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“Do they want two spinners? Do they want to risk going in with two spinners or do they want to take Nitish Reddy? Nitish Reddy will have to do a job like Shardul Thakur did as the fourth seamer. He can bat a bit, give the bowlers a little bit of respite so that they can bowl in short spells…and be someone who will have to be good for those eight to 10 overs that he bowls. So that would be my pick, seeing the conditions,” Ravi Shastri concluded.
