Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has backed Shubman Gill to excel at No. 3 in Test cricket. The youngster failed to with the bat in the first Test against South Africa in the ongoing series at the SuperSport Park at Centurion. He will be hoping to make an impact in the second test, which kicks off on Wednesday, January 3 in Cape Town.
Shubman Gill managed scores of 2 and 26 in the first Test. So far, he has played four Test matches at No. 3 for India, scoring 120 runs at an average of 24.00. Ahead of the second Test, Rohit Sharma has backed the youngster to perform well. He expressed that it’s tough to bat at No.3 as you need to be ready from the first delivery. Rohit Sharma said,
“There is not much difference (on opening to batting at number 3). It takes just 1 ball for a number 3 to go in. And sometimes when an opener gets injured, a number 3 has to walk out and open the innings. I don’t see much difference there. Gill is smart and understands his batting pretty well.”
“He prefers that number. He has batted in the Ranji Trophy at that number around that position. Shubman has opened in Test and limited overs games but the number 3 was his preference. He feels he can do well for us batting at that position. It is an individual thing about how you think about certain positions,” Rohit added.
I hated batting at Number 3: Rohit Sharma
Team India skipper Rohit Sharma further expressed that he hated to bat at Number 3 in Test cricket. He has played four Tests at the position for India, scoring 107 runs at an average of 21.40, with one fifty to his name.
“I hated batting at number 3 and that is my opinion. Either you open the batting or you wait a little to go down the order to bat at number 5 or 6. Since I started opening, from 3 onwards till number 7 I don’t think it is the right position for anyone,” Rohit further added.
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