With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy beginning on February 9 in Nagpur, there is a buzz regarding KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav's inclusion in the playing XI. Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri reckons Shubman Gill should be included ahead of vice-captain KL Rahul in India's final XI.
Shastri went on to say that being a vice-captain should not guarantee a place in the playing XI and Shubman's current form in white ball cricket will give him confidence in Tests too. He said,"Shubman or Rahul (selection) depends on the team management, what they think. You'd want to go with what you've been doing in the past, but form becomes critical."
On Surya's inclusion and his position in Test Cricket, the former Indian all-rounder believes that no one comes close to Surya at no.5 and he should be an automatic addition to the team. "Someone's hitting it sweet and it's coming out of the centre of the bat. Then, you know, you wake up, and say, 'listen'," Shastri said on the ICC Review on Wednesday."
Backing his selection of Shubman ahead of KL, Shastri said - "I've been watching Gill and Rahul very closely in the nets. If it's a hard call; when I see footwork when I see the timing as to who is batting better. If it has to be Shubman ahead of Rahul, so be it. You know, straight. You have to see that. I won't say that Rahul is the vice-captain so he becomes the automatic choice."
While the on-field battle will start tomorrow, the off-field battles have already begun. The Australian media and former cricketers have lashed out at the Nagpur Pitch and have even asked ICC to intervene on the same. Speaking on the same Shastri said there is nothing wrong in capitalising on the home advantage - "If someone asks me what kind of pitch? Expect that. If you lose the toss, expect the ball to turn in the first session of play. That's what I want, and take it from there. My mindset would be, 'How can I beat Australia 4-0 if I'm the coach', which means day one, I want a ball to pitch on leg stump and hit off stump. I want it to rip."
In addition to Surya and Shubman, Shastri has also included Kuldeep in his XI. He went in with Yadav because he is a leggie and believes the surface would benefit him more than finger spinners. He went on and said - "I'd like to see some magic. I'd like to see some Kuldeep Yadav stuff. If you lose the toss on day one, if it's a good pitch where it's not turning, and the finger spinner is not getting enough, I want a leg spinner to be able to rip it. Spin it before probably any other spinner in the game."
Ravi Shastri was part of India's coaching staff that believed in aggressive cricket and continuing the aggressive approach he wants India to whitewash Australia at Home. He said - "India should look to win 4-0, we're playing at home. I'm brutal. I've been on two tours of Australia, I know what's happened," Shastri said.
With Suryakumar in the form of his life in T20 cricket, his presence in the squad has added to the intrigue ahead of the Nagpur Test. But Shastri said the team management should not look beyond the charismatic batter and hand him the Test debut."At number five, Suryakumar will get the position, because there’s no Shreyas (Iyer). There’ll be talking about, 'can Gill bat at five?’ I think you need the right guy for the right number. At five, when you go there, especially if the ball is turning, then you need someone good at playing the right shots against spin. Surya demands that position. I think it's straightforward." he added.
Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 schedule:
1st Test at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur - February 9-13
2nd Test at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi - February 17-21
3rd Test at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala - March 1-5
4th Test at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad - March 9-13
India’s squad for the first two Tests vs Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia Test squad for India tour: Pat Cummins (capt), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.
