Follow UsIt is not yet clear whether India captain Shubman Gill will be fit or not ahead of the second Test against South Africa, starting November 22 in Guwahati. But if he doesn’t get fit for the game, former India opener Aakash Chopra had a suggestion to replace him, not with someone in the squad, but from someone outside it.
“Should Ruturaj Gaikwad be selected in the Test team? You might be wondering how he can be selected as the team is already selected, and no one has gone out. There is still no clarity on Shubman Gill’s participation. He has been discharged from the hospital, but there is still a question mark over his participation,” Chopra was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
Reasoning why Gaikwad would be a better choice, Chopra opined that he would also balance out the left-right combination as India already have Yashasvi Jaiswal, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav as left-handers.
The total is six out of 11, and if either Sudharsan or Devdutt Padikkal, two genuine top-order batters selected in the side, it would go to seven out of 11, and then the likes of Simor Harmer and Aiden Markram will get even more lethal with their off-spin bowling if the pitch is also spin-friendly.
"Just in case he doesn’t become available, you will have to play someone. You have Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal sitting outside – two more left-handers. You have six left-handers in the XI at the moment. Do you want to go with seven left-handers? You want to change that, maybe,” said the 48-year-old.
Gaikwad has been in great touch this season as he has scored three centuries and three half-centuries in his last six games, which comprise four first-class matches and two List-A games.
“He is in excellent form. He is scoring runs for India A in white-ball cricket. Don’t know why he has not played in the days’ format when the India A team plays, but wherever he is playing, whether it’s the Ranji Trophy or the Duleep Trophy, he has been scoring runs,” Chopra explained.
Calling him like-for-like for Gill, the former India opener said, “He even bats in the middle order. He looks technically compact. It seems like he has been made to play Tests, and this is the same ground where he struck a T20I century vs Australia. So I am building a case for him that if there is any chance of Shubman Gill not playing, paradrop and bring him in.”
India are trailing 0-1 in the two-match series and if they do not win this game in Guwahati, not only will they be clean swept twice in the last three series at home, they would lose a series to South Africa at home after 25 years. Even a draw could result in India losing the series.