Former India batter Wasim Jaffer has come up with an interesting suggestion for the Rohit Sharma and Co. after a narrow defeat to England in the first Test in Hyderabad. With the second Test starting in Vizag on Friday, Jaffer feels captain Rohit should bat at no. 3, instead of youngster Shubman Gill, who is going through a lean patch after being demoted down the order. Gill struggled in both innings in Hyderabad and got dismissed by spinners.
Jaffer feels Rohit should demote himself to no. 3 and allow to Gill to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal. He backed his claim by saying that Rohit is better player of spin that the youngster.
“Gill and Jaiswal should open and Rohit should bat at no.3 in 2nd test in my opinion. Waiting to bat for his turn isn’t helping Shubman, it’s better he opens the inn. Rohit plays spin really well, so batting at no.3 should not worry him too much,” Jaffer posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Gill managed just 23 runs in the first Test against England, getting out to debutant spinner Tom Harley in both the innings.
In the first innings, he got out trying to hit Tom Hartley for a six. He was then caught at silly-point by Ollie Pope off Hartley.
Since his demotion to no. 3, Gill has not scored a half-century in the last 5 Test matches in that position.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel raised concerns over Gill bad patch.
“The way Shubman Gill was batting, especially the approach we saw in the first innings, he wasn’t trying to play shots at all. If you don’t try to score runs, international-level bowlers won’t give you too many loose deliveries,” Patel said on Colors Cineplex.
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Patel also pointed out a major technical flaw in Gill’s batting, saying that the batter defends with hard hands. He also emphasised the importance of rotating strike, which Gill failed to do in both the innings.
“You will have to show your skills there. It’s fine if you are not hitting fours, you need to rotate the strike at least. If we talk technically as well, he defends with extremely hard hands. He needs to see how he can work on that,” he added.