India’s surprising selection call in Melbourne needs valid reason, says Shastri
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has expressed his surprise at Shubman Gill’s omission from the India XI for the Boxing Day Test, and suggested the top-order batter should feature in the team’s strongest lineup.
India slipped to a 2-1 deficit in the series after a fifth-day collapse in Melbourne, when they lost seven wickets for just 34 runs in the final session to succumb to a 184-run loss. India had scored 369 in the first innings, in response to Australia’s 474, but their top order still struggled.
Shastri, speaking in the latest episode of the ICC Review, suggested the selection call on Gill needed scrutiny. “There’s Shubman Gill, a player of his quality averaging over 40 in the year 2024 and not playing, which is a shame,” he said.
“It tricks your brain as to what he’s doing sitting on the bench and warming it.”
In 12 Tests in 2024, Gill scored 866 at an average of 43.3, including three centuries, against England and Bangladesh.
His form on tours is something he has struggled with – since his 91 in the famous Brisbane Test in 2021, he has scored just one overseas century (in Bangladesh) in Tests, and averages 23.8.
However, Shastri believes a player of his quality simply must feature in India’s best XI.
“How can he be out of the XI is my question,” Shastri said. “Now how he comes into the XI, that's the call of the team.
“When you average over 40 in the year 2024, not many players have averaged over 40 – I think he's averaging 43 or 44 – for him to be sitting and cooling his heels must be one of the toughest pills to swallow.
“I'm trying to think, if I had to make him sit out or make a player who is averaging 40 sit out, what will I tell him?”
WATCH: Shubman Gill – New star on the rise for India
India and Australia players laud emerging star Shubman Gill at the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023
In Melbourne, India dropped a specialist batter in Gill, and preferred to pack the middle order with all-rounders, with Washington Sundar and Nitish Reddy featuring lower down the order.
The duo’s bowling skills weren’t utilised as much as the others though. Sundar and Reddy bowled a combined 27 overs in the Boxing Day Test across both innings – Bumrah alone bowled 28.4 in the first innings.
“There has to be an extremely valid reason, to tell him that, ‘you are sitting out’,” Shastri said.
“If you are talking balance of the team, we are playing an extra bowler, then give that bowler bowling. If he is not bowling enough, then why are you keeping a player like him out?
“It's an area that demands scrutiny as to how you can keep a player like that out.”
The final Test in Sydney begins on Friday, 3 January.