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Harbhajan Singh Stands In Support Of Shubman Gill After 2nd Innings' Failure

image-ler3idw3Shubman played well against pacers but failed to pick spinners

For the ongoing Test match, India brought in Shubman Gill in place of a feeble KL Rahul. However, on a pitch that spun 4.8° on Day 1, the opening batter failed to stretch his purple patch in Indore as he got dismantled for 21 & 5 in Indian batting's flop show.

In the first innings, Gill threw his wicket after getting a start before knicking Matthew Kuhnemann into the palms of the first slip. Meanwhile, he lost his lifeline in the second innings after skipping the ground to Nathan Lyon's off-break.

Netizens are criticising the opening batter left, right and centre; and asking the team management to bring back the former vice-captain, KL Rahul. However, all the other batters were under par on a doctored Indore pitch.

Coming in defence of Gill, former Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh, has said it is too early to judge the batter but guided him to play on the Indian spinning conditions.

"See, the game plan is simple here. You can't survive on this pitch with defence. Pujara was using his feet throughout his innings. If you're thinking that you can wait out for a spell and score runs later, it won't work. Even if you're playing on 70-80 on this pitch, you can get out with just one odd delivery," Harbhajan said after Gill's dismissal on Star Sports.

The veteran off-spinner spoke about the Punjab batter's dismissal, where the right-hander went for a slogging across the line but paid paid a big-ticket as the ball stayed low.

"You have to look out for the opportunity to score runs. You need to see where you can get a four. Shubman wanted to go for a six, and when you consider the pitch condition here, his approach was right because you can't defend on this pitch for long," he added.

Courtesy of Cheteshwar Pujara's gritty 59, India could get a slim lead of 75 runs after bundling out for 163 in their second innings. Nevertheless, Australia will fancy their chances to chase down the target on Day 3.