Shubman Gill is all set to leave his opening slot and bat down the order in the first Test match against West Indies starting in Dominica on Wednesday. Before the start of the first match of the two-test series in West Indies, Gill has asked head coach Rahul Dravid to let him bat at number 3, a position previously held by veteran Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been dropped from the side.
Gill and Rohit Sharma have been opening the batting for India in Test matches for quite some time, including in the World Test Championship final, which they lost to Australia last month.
"Gill will play at number 3 because Gill himself wants to play at number 3,” Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said ahead of the 1st Test match against the West Indies. “He discussed with Rahul Bhai that I have played my cricket at 3 and 4. I think I can do better for my team if I bat at number 3. And it is good for us too because it becomes an opening combination of left and right,” the Indian captain added.
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Grabbing the spot which Gill is leaving will be taken up by the debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal. The Uttar Pradesh-born 21-year-old left-handed batsman will be walking out with the India skipper to start the innings in the Caribbean.
Rohit on the left-handed batsman, Yashasvi Jaiswal, said "So I think we will try to do this and hopefully this will go on for a long time. Because we have been looking for a left-hander for many years. So now that we have got that left-hander, let's hope he performs well for the team. And he can really make that spot his own."
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