Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan urged the team management to stick with out-of-form Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer for a few more matches. His plea came ahead of the second Test between India and England which will be played in Vishakhapatnam form February 2nd onwards.
Gill and Iyer failed with the bat in the opening Test in Hyderabad as India suffered a 28-run defeat. 24-year-old Gill scored 23 and 0 as he struggled against England spinners. On the other hand, Iyer’s rough patch in red-ball cricket extended as he failed to convert the starts 35 and 13 into big scores.
However, with Virat Kohli having withdrawn from the first 2 Tests and India losing the services of Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul due to injuries for the second Test, Irfan Pathan said that Gill and Iyer should continue in the XI as India needs some experienced players.
Pathan also said that Kohli’s absence is the biggest setback for the hosts and other injuries have made the case worse for them.
“The biggest setback is that India doesn’t have Virat Kohli. For that matter, there are several experienced players who are not available at the moment, due to some reasons,” Irfan Pathan spoke at the launch event of Asian Legends League, Season 1.
“If the situation is 1-0 or 2-1, or you know you can’t lose the series from here then you can try the young players. I want India to back Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer for some more matches. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill have not scored big runs in recent times but they have the experience which helps the team in crunch situations. I will continue to back them because India needs 3-4 experienced players in the line-up,” he added.
Ever since Gill opted to bat at the no.3 spot in Test cricket starting from the West Indies tour last year, he has yet to register a half-century. Batting at number 3, he has scored just 189 runs in 9 innings at an average of 23.62.
(News18 inputs)
