Shubman Gill hasn't been enjoying his time off in recent Tests. The right-handed hitter had a dismal Border-Gavaskar Trophy performance against Australia, scoring only 93 runs in five innings. An injury forced the 25-year-old to miss the series opener in Perth.

He was also excluded from the Melbourne team because management preferred to have three all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath chastised Gill for his efforts in the longer format, questioning his underwhelming contributions. He also made a harsh remark about the youngster, claiming that he was ineffective on the field and lacked the necessary intent and attitude.

"It is very difficult for me to see this. For that level, he has not lived up to expectations. You can get runs, you cannot, but there should have been intent and aggression. I wanted him to tire out the bowlers,” Badrinath said on Star Sports.

Badrinath stated that he wanted Gill to grind it out in the middle, tiring the Australian bowlers. He used the example of Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne, who built a gritty partnership in the first innings of the Adelaide Test.

"I want you to make the ball old. Help your teammates and stand firm even if runs are not coming. Play 100 balls, and tire the bowlers. This is what your team contribution [is supposed to be]. Labuschange and McSweeney did that in a couple of games. By playing out a lot of dot balls, they had actually made Bumrah injured," he added.

Badrinath also alleged that if Shubman Gill was from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped.

"If this was Shubman Gill from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped,” Badrinath said.

Shubman Gill looked impressive in the middle during the Adelaide Test. However, after being set, he threw away his wicket. The same pattern emerged in the Sydney Test, as he danced down the track on the final delivery before lunch on Day 1, losing his wicket to Nathan Lyon.

Badrinath criticized Gill's game and questioned his demeanor on the field.

"You must not go there and say, oh, this is the way I play. I will stand and deliver. Four people will write about it. Whatever you can do, at that time, you try and do. In this series, I did not get it from Shubman. Even on the field, he was poor. He couldn't stay in slip and point. What does he contribute to the team?" he asked.

Shubman Gill averages just a little above 35 in Test cricket after playing 32 matches since his debut in MCG in 2020.