Gill has to open with Rohit if India want to win Australia Tests: Harbhajan

India find themselves in quite a tricky position ahead of the first Test against Australia. On one hand there is KL Rahul, who is the incumbent, and the man who was responsible for India taking a lead in England away from home, on the other is a rampant Shubman Gill. Gill is arguably in the form of his life, with a century across three formats. 

While Rahul is all but set to opener, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh opined that India should be opening with Rohit and Gill, if they want to win the four-match Test series against Australia, that starts February 9.

"The opening partnership is the most important thing. Openers set the tone in any series. According to me, India's openers in the Australia series should be Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill,” said Harbhajan on his YouTube channel. 

“The form he is in, Gill is on another level. Even though KL Rahul is a top player, his stats (across all formats in 2022) are not favouring him at the moment. Whereas Gill is in the form of his life. He has shattered multiple records in recent months," Harbhajan added.

In the last seven innings in international cricket, the right-handed Gill has three centuries and a double-century, which is one of the biggest reason that Harbhajan feels the 23-year-old should open. 

“If Team India wants to win this Test series, then Shubman Gill should open with Rohit Sharma. After scoring so many runs, I think he deserves to be in the Indian playing XI not for just one game. I think India should stick with Shubman Gill throughout the series. If he plays in the form and confidence that he is in, Gill will score plenty of runs for India. So I hope he gets to play,” said Harbhajan.