India vs Australia: ‘Shubman Gill should have been the player to begin with,’ Tom Moody feels Shaw was set ‘up to fail’
India vs Australia: Moody reckons that Shubman Gill should have been the man to open for India along with Mayank Agarwal to begin with, given the youngster has a far better technique.
Following a second low score by Prithvi Shaw in the Adelaide Test against Australia, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody feels the actual failure is of the selectors to include an out-of-form Shaw in the Playing XI. Moody reckons that Shubman Gill should have been the man to open for India along with Mayank Agarwal to begin with, given the youngster has a far better technique.
“Prithvi Shaw is not the one that has failed here, the selectors have failed. He shouldn’t have gotten picked to begin with knowing that he’s coming into this Test series out of form and also with the technical flaws that have been exposed over a dozen balls. So to me he was set up to fail in a way,” Moody told ESPNCricinfo.
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“For me, Shubman Gill should have been the person to play to begin with. His technique is a lot more water tight and he’s shown that he’s got a wonderful temperament. I’m not saying that Prithvi Shaw is not going to make a good Test cricketer. He’s got a huge future in front of him. But at the moment it’s not so much his fault. I think the decision to play him was wrong.”
Shaw got out for a second-ball duck in the first innings, and could manage only four runs in the second. Both times, Shaw played on – first to Mitchell Starc and later to Pat Cummins – leaving a huge gap between his bat and pad, a technical flaw which the Australian exploited to great effect.
To make matters worse, Shaw even dropped a catch of Marnus Labuschagne when the batsman was on 21. Although as per Moody, Gill should be the one to come in for Shaw for the second Test at the MCG starting December 26, it could well be a tough call for the selectors to make.
“I don’t think the selectors have any other choice but to back him for Melbourne regardless of whether you think it’s going to be more of a tame wicket or whatever the case may be. But you cannot go and pick someone with conviction and suddenly on the back of two knocks, do a backflip and then withdraw him, given what the circumstances heading into the third and fourth Tests, by then Rohit Sharma is likely to return.” he said.
