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Shubman Gill not to open for India as Rohit Sharma spills beans on Playing XI for 1st Test vs West Indies
Rohit Sharma has confirmed that star batter Shubman Gill will not open for India in the 1st Test against the West Indies.
With veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara being unceremoniously dropped from India's Test squad for the West Indies series, Rohit Sharma and Co. were tipped to unveil a new No.3 batter for the visitors in the next cycle of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). Bringing in fresh faces for the third edition of the ICC event, India named uncapped domestic performers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad in its star-studded squad for the twin Tests against the Men from the Caribbean.
While Pujara was shown the exit door by the selectors, the Indian think-tank surprisingly re-appointment Ajinkya Rahane as the vice-captain of the visitors for the Caribbean tour. Runners-up in the last two editions of the WTC, Rohit's Indian side will kick off their new campaign in Dominica on Wednesday. The visitors will meet the West Indies in the series opener at Windsor Park. Rohit, who recently turned reporter in Rahane's press conference after his Test call-up, spoke at length about India's playing XI for the series opener against the West Indies on Tuesday.
'Shubman Gill will play at No.3 position'
Speaking to journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel, Rohit confirmed that Indian opener Gill will bat at the No.3 position for the visitors in the curtain-raiser of the Test series. With Gill taking up the vacant No.3 slot, Rohit also revealed that Yashashvi Jaiswal will be his opening partner in the 1st Test against the West Indies.
“As far as the batting positions are concerned, Gill will play at the No.3 position. Gill himself wanted to bat at this position. He told Indian head coach Dravid about batting at the No.3 position. He discussed with Rahul how he has mostly batted at No.3 and No. 4 positions in his career. He can contribute more by batting at the No.3 position. And it's good for us because we can get a left and right combination. We were desperate for a left-hander. Now we have got the left-hander, let's hope he performs for the team and makes the spot his own,” Rohit said on the eve of the 1st Test against the West Indies.
'India will play with 2 spinners and 3 seamers'
In another significant announcement, Indian skipper Rohit also opened up about the bowling combination of the visitors for the 1st Test. "Looking at the wicket (in Dominica), I believe we will play with two spinners and three seamers,” Rohit said. While India are without injured speedster Jasprit Bumrah, the Rahul Dravid-coached side has also opted to rest veteran pacer Mohammed Shami. India handed Kolkata seamer Mukesh Kumar his maiden Test call-up for the West Indies series. In the absence of senior pacers Bumrah and Shami, speed merchant Navdeep Saini has been roped in to complement the Mohammed Siraj-starrer pace attack of the visitors.
