Shubman Gill is set to captain the Indian team for the first time in Test cricket in the upcoming five-match assignment against England which will commence from June 20. While Gill's captaincy will remain in focus throughout the series, another major talking point ahead of the England tour has been Kohli's replacement at the number four spot in the batting order.
Ponting wants Gill to succeed Kohli in India's batting order
The spot can be given to Karun Nair, who recently made a comeback to India's Test set-up after being absent for eight long years. He got called back following a highly impressive domestic season with Vidarbha. However, according to legendary Australia cricketer Ricky Ponting, Gill should be the one to replace Kohli as India's new no.4 in Test cricket.
"I think (Sai) Sudarshan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting (in England) as Sudarshan just looks like a class player to me and technically I think he could do well at Test level," Ponting said on the ICC Review.
"They'll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone that's got a bit more experience at No.3. Whether that's KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair) at No.3, and then Shubman might end up being that No.4 player, which will probably make life for him a little bit easier as a captain as well," he added.
Ponting believes that batting on the number four spot will be far less pressurizing for Gill than batting as an opener or at no.3.
“Not having to be opening or batting at No.3 as a young captain might make it easier. Their top five will probably be Sudarshan, Jaiswal, KL, Gill and Karun Nair for the start of the England series,” Ponting stated.
Following the sudden Test retirements of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the Indian team is set to enter a new era in red-ball cricket. The upcoming series against England will be very important especially for the youngsters, who will be looking to impress the selectors through their performance and cement their spot in India's Test playing XI.
India squad for England Tests: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.