Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar gave his opinion on the opener debate for the Test series against England. He has stated that Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal need to be given opportunities in the practice games. The opener who performs better should be picked, according to Sunil Gavaskar.
India will square-off against England in a 5-match Test series starting on August 4. Following the defeat in the WTC Final, several weaknesses in the batting department were exposed. In particular, Shubman Gill’s inability to tackle the swinging ball has spurred a debate.
‘If he works hard, he will get the reward’ – Gavaskar on Shubman Gill
Sunil Gavaskar, who had first-hand viewing experience as a commentator in the WTC Final, explained that Gill needs to work on his footwork in order to shine in English conditions.
“His footwork isn’t much. He only goes in front and that’s not the case with him only in England. Even in the series in India, there too, he had just one movement which is forward. There’s no effort to go on the backfoot and that is why he plays across the line,” the legendary batsman said.
Sunil Gavaskar continued by saying that the talent is aplenty in Gill to succeed as an opener. However, the right technique is needed for Gill to thrive in England.
“Because once your feet go forward, with that balance – it’s tough to get back on the backfoot if the length is slightly short. So he needs to work hard, there’s no doubt of his talent. But if he works a bit hard, he will get the reward,” he assessed.
Speaking about Mayank Agarwal, Sunil Gavaskar lauded the batsman’s Test career so far and insisted on the fact that the practice matches will be necessary to decide the opener for India.
“Mayank Agarwal has done a really good job for India; Twice he’s scored a double century opening the innings. Make them open the innings together because Rohit Sharma is a certainty and he can be rested for a [practice] game. That would give you an idea who has the better technique for English conditions. And then based on that, they can make a decision whether they want to play Mayank Agarwal or Shubman Gill,” he concluded.
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