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'He's One Of Those Guys..'- Dravid Defends Gill’s Selection For ENG Tests Amid Form Concerns

image-lrqalobbShubman Gill during a training session (x.com)

Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has defended Shubman Gill’s selection in the Test team for India’s forthcoming home series against England. Gill, who is currently placed at number two on the ICC ODI rankings for batters, has failed to replicate his white-ball form in Test cricket.

The 24-year-old also returned from South Africa with underwhelming scores, managing just 74 runs from four innings at a substandard average of 18.75.

Dravid backed Gill by saying that the latter is still in the initial phases of his international career and blamed the tough playing surfaces instead for his lack of impactful performances.


Shubman Gill backed by coach Rahul Dravid

A day prior to India's series-opening Test match against England, Dravid defended Shubman Gill's selection in the squad even when the latter is going through one of the worst phases of his red-ball career. While speaking with the reporters during a pre-match press conference, he said:

“Gill is a fine player. Starting out as a journey as a cricketer sometimes we forget that it takes little bit of time at times. Some guys have success instantly, actually he is one of those guys who has done really well in some of his early days, especially in Australia.”

Rahul Dravid also added that Indian cricketers have been playing on challenging batting surfaces over the last couple of years. He added:

“To be fair to him a lot of young guys coming through are playing on some challenging wickets, whether it’s been in India or England or West Indies. It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years.”

Shubman Gill made his Test debut back in December 2020 against Australia at the MCG. So far in his three-year career, the dashing opening batsman has tallied 1,040 runs at a below-par average of 30.58. The cricketer holds two centuries and four half-centuries to his name.

The first Test of the five-match series between England and hosts India will commence from January 25 onwards. The match will be hosted by the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.