Reports have suggested that the ongoing Vizag Test between India and England was the final chance for Shubman Gill to keep his spot in the Indian playing XI at the no.3 spot. Shubman Gill’s outings before this Test had been very poor with no century since the 2023 Ahmedabad Test against Australia.
The Indian team management had given him an ultimatum that Visakhapatnam would be his last chance to retain the No. 3 spot in India’s Test team, The Indian Express reported.
Following a barren spell of runs, wherein Gill had only managed 153 runs in the nine innings with the highest score of 36, his place was under immense scrutiny.
The news outlet further reported that Gill could have been sent to domestic cricket to work on his flaws with a week’s gap between the second and Third Test in Rajkot. Gill was set to play for Punjab against Gujarat in Mohali from February 9 onwards.
“I will go and play the Ranji Trophy match against Gujarat in Mohali,” he told one of his family members, as per Indian Express.
However, he has silenced the critics for now with a sublime 104 in the second innings of the ongoing Test. Gill’s flaws in technique against both spin and pace were exposed in this series. He would play the spinners with hard hands, while lunge at the seamers with a half-forward front-foot.
The flaws have not yet been fully rectified, but the century gives him the confidence and time to correct those. Former India captain Anil Kumble had criticized the team management for giving Gill an extra “cushion” that veteran Cheteshwar Pujara never got.
But Gill rode his luck, he could have got out at least thrice in the first ten balls he faced, but he survived and maximized the breaks like good batsmen do.
