‘It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years’ – Rahul Dravid defends Shubman Gill’s dwindling Test numbers

Dravid and Gill (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

Shubman Gill has been a phenomenal performer for India in ODI cricket. However, his performances in Tests and T20Is have not done justice to his immense potential.

The young batter got off to a fabulous start in his Test career when he debuted for India in the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2020. He scored 45 and 35 not out in his first two innings against the world-class Australian bowling line-up. The Punjab-born followed it up with a half-century in the first innings of the third Test in Sydney, but his 91 in the fourth Test in Brisbane made the cricket fraternity sit up and take note of his talent.

Since then, Gill has played some sensational knocks in ODI cricket and also reached the top of the ICC rankings for batters in the format in November 2023. However, his form in red-ball cricket hasn’t been as great. After playing 20 Tests, Gill has scored 1,040 runs at a dismal average of 30.59. The right-handed batter has scored two centuries in the longest format of the game, and they came against Bangladesh and Australia. Also, he has added just a couple of half-centuries to his name after the two he got on his debut tour Down Under.

He recently relinquished his opening slot and moved down to No. 3. However, the change in batting number hasn’t altered his fortunes. While a section of fans and cricket pundits have questioned his place in the side, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid backed him to come good sooner rather than later. The former India batter said that the team has played in some tough batting conditions in the last few years and that hasn’t helped Gill’s cause. Dravid assured that the youngster is putting in the hard yards behind the scenes and of him being on the right track.

“Gill is a fine player. Starting out as a journey as a cricketer, sometimes we forget that it takes a little bit of time at times. Some guys have success instantly, actually he is one of those guys who has done really well in some of his early days, especially in Australia,” Dravid was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

“To be fair to him a lot of young guys coming through are playing on some challenging wickets, whether it’s been in India or England or West Indies. It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years. He is doing all the right things. He is working really hard. He is putting in the time, putting in the effort. In the last season he has got a couple of nice hundreds for us one in Bangladesh and one in Ahmedabad against Australia. I think he is on the right track,” added Dravid.

The 24-year-old will have to play a key role for India in the upcoming five-match Test series against England, especially in the absence of veteran batter Virat Kohli for the Hyderabad and Vizag games. The first Test begins on Thursday, January 25, in Hyderabad.