Before the first Test match against England, Rahul Dravid offers a frank assessment on Shubman Gill’s promotion to the No. 3 batting slot

In the run-up to Tuesday’s Test in Hyderabad, head coach Rahul Dravid has backed star batsman Shubman Gill, since India will be without their talisman, Virat Kohli, for the first match of the series against England. Gill, who was only elevated to the No. 3 batting spot in the longest format, won the Cricketer of the Year award yesterday from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) at the highest cricket board honors.

Last year, Gill became the quickest player in One Day Internationals (ODIs) ever to reach the 2,000-run milestone. He amassed 1584 runs for Team India from 29 matches at an average of 63.36. The youthful player scored five hundreds in the 2023 campaign as well. As one of the select few hitters to get hundreds in all competitions, Gill has found it difficult to contribute to Rohit Sharma and the company’s success in Test matches. For the Asian heavyweights, the former World No. 1 hitter has only amassed 304 runs in seven Test matches.

“Gill plays well,” said David
The Indian hitter, who produced a spectacular 128 against Australia, now has a lower average of 27.63 in 2024. In an interview with media before India’s first Test match against England, head coach Ravi Shankar chose to express his confidence in Gill, who would be attempting to make a comeback to Test cricket during the five-game series.

“Gill plays the game well. When we first start out as cricket players, we sometimes forget that it takes some time. Some men achieve success quickly; in fact, he is among those who, in his early career, particularly in Australia, achieved remarkable accomplishments. To be fair to him, a lot of the young players who are emerging are competing in difficult fields, whether it is in the West Indies, England, or India. For the last two or three years, it has been a really difficult wicket, Dravid said.

“He is acting appropriately at all times.”
Following the entry of opener Yashasvi Jaiswal into the Test lineup, Gill was moved up to the No. 3 batting position. Earlier, Gill opened the innings in all forms with captain Rohit. Since the West Indies series, the 24-year-old has been batting at No. 3 for India. “He is acting appropriately at all times. He is putting in a lot of effort at work. He is working hard and dedicating his time to the nets. He scored two excellent hundreds for us last season, one in Ahmedabad against Australia and the other in Bangladesh. In Dravid’s opinion, he is headed in the right direction.