NEWS
Follow UsTeam India made solitary change to the starting XI for the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on December 26 (Thursday), but it was a huge one as the management opted to drop Shubman Gill, bringing in Washington Sundar in place of the 25-year-old.
Gill is still India’s second-highest run-getter in Tests this calendar year, but having to choose between him and Nitish Kumar Reddy, the visitors opted to stick with pace-bowling all-rounder who impressed across the first two Tests of the series, top-scoring for the side in three of the four innings across the first two games.
Gill had wasted two starts in Adelaide (31 & 28) and perished to an extremely loose shot in Brisbane for 1, yet the 25-year-old’s omission came as a big shock considering his potential and how highly he’s rated in Indian cricket.
In the aftermath of Day 1 of the MCG Test, however, India’s assistant coach Abhishek Nayar insisted that the right-hander had not been ‘dropped’.
“Unfortunately for Gill, he had to miss out due to how things panned out,” Nayar said after day one.
“He understands that it’s the team requirement. It’s unfortunate. I wouldn’t say Gill has been dropped per se, it was just unfortunate that he couldn’t find his place in the XI in this game.”
Nayar, a former India cricketer himself, explained that, looking at the pitch, the management felt that off-spinner Washington Sundar would provide them with the extra edge they needed. On the day, Sundar bowled 12 overs and picked the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne to end the 83-run third wicket stand.
“We felt looking at this pitch having Washington Sundar in the bowling attack will give us that variation, especially with the older ball. So against the likes of Travis Head and Alex Carey, who were getting lower-order runs, we felt having an offie in the ranks would bode well for us,” he said.
Team India assistant coach insisted that Sundar was picked purely for his bowling, and not to beef up batting down the order.
“The thought process wasn’t to strengthen the batting. If there was over-emphasis on batting, then we would have kept Shubman [Gill] in the side,” the 41-year-old said.
“We think of the balance of the team based on the conditions and what’s ahead of us. The thought process is always making sure we get the right team for the conditions in front of us.”
With incumbent No.3 Gill out of the XI, Nayar confirmed that the in-form KL Rahul will take the former’s place, with skipper Rohit Sharma moving to the top of the order.
“Yes, Rohit will come up the order. He will more or less open the batting for us in this Test,” Nayar said.
On the day, India lost the toss in the series for the first time and were asked to bowl on an extremely hot day. And the tourists were taken aback by a stunning onslaught from debutant Sam Konstas, who flayed the Indian seamers and posted a whirlwind 60 off just 65 balls. Konstas brought out the audacious scoops and reverse-scoops and rattled India in the first hour through his strokeplay.
Nayar credited Konstas for taking the attack to India, but felt that the team eventually did a fine job to bounce back. Australia finished Day 1 on 311/6.
“We have to give a lot of credit to the way Sam [Konstas] played. The intent he showed in the first few overs sort of put us on the back foot but I felt our bowlers showed a lot of character to stick in there. It wasn't the easiest conditions to bowl; we felt the conditions were good to bat on,” Nayar said.
“At times like that, it’s important to stick to your guns and stick to your plans. I felt post lunch we came back really strong, putting pressure on Australia by bowling maidens.
“Sometimes you are taken by surprise by knocks like that [Konstas], but I felt we responded really well and kept at it. Overall, looking at the day, we were happy with where we ended.”
