Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27 (ANI): Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels that youngster Shubman Gill should open alongside Rohit Sharma in the upcoming Test series against England but added that Gill needs to keep his head down after the dream debut Down Under.
In the recently concluded series against Australia, Gill played three Tests and scored 259 runs including two fifties and missed out on a century by nine runs in the final Test at The Gabba.
Speaking on Star Sports show GAME PLAN, Gambhir said, “See, he should be opening with Rohit Sharma, no doubt about it, but let’s not jump the gun. You just can’t put someone really high up there. Yes, he’s got the talent, but he needs to keep his head down because international cricket can be tough! Yes, you had a honeymoon start to your international career. It can’t be better than this.
“Playing in Australia, winning this series with a young side, you’ve done really well, you batted beautifully. No doubt about it, but let’s give him time as well and let him develop on his own, rather than putting too much pressure and putting too much expectations on him,” he added.
According to Gambhir, England is a quality side and they are also coming after a 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka so India needs to show their ‘A’ game against the visitors after a historic series win in Australia.
“England, coming after a successful series against Sri Lanka, it’s not going to be the same. Obviously, India’s a far better side than Sri Lanka, but then England is a quality side as well. So, India needs to be at its best, but at the same time, India will be high on confidence, especially after what they did in Australia was historic, but I am looking forward to this series,” Gambhir said.
The England cricket team and staff arrived in Chennai on Wednesday for the Test series against India. The first and second Test will be played in Chennai, beginning February 5.
The squad led by Joe Root will be going under a mandatory six-day quarantine period as per COVID-19 protocol. Ben Stokes, Rory Burns, and Jofra Archer arrived in Chennai on Monday and they have already begun their quarantine period.
India’s squad for first two Tests against England: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul (subject to fitness), Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel. (ANI)