Rohit Sharma has defended Shubman Gill who has changed his batting position in red ball cricket. Shubman Gill has moved down to slot in at number 3 from the openers spot. But Gill hasn’t performed well in red-ball cricket so well and is finding it hard to settle in his new role.
However, Rohit Sharma has backed the youngster claiming that it is Gill’s natural and preferred spot. He went on to claim that Gill has flourished at 3 in domestic cricket. Rohit further added that there isn’t much difference than opening and batting at 3.
“There is not much difference (on opening to batting at number 3). It takes just 1 ball for a number 3 to go in. And sometimes when an opener gets injured, a number 3 has to walk out and open the innings. I don’t see much difference there. Gill is smart and understands his batting pretty well,” said Rohit Sharma at the Pre match Press conference.
“He prefers that number. He has batted in Ranji Trophy at that number around that position. He has opened in Test and limited overs game but the number 3 was his preference. He feels he can do well for us batting at that position. It is an individual things about how you think about certain positions,” Rohit added.
Shubman Gill is yet to register a fifty while batting at his new position. He has given his opening spot to another youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal who made his debut during IND vs WI series. In general, Gill had a poor Test stint in 2023. He only managed a solitary century in Border-Gavaskar Trophy in March and went the entire year without a fifty. He managed 258 runs in 11 innings in the entirety of 2023.
“I hated batting at number 3 and it is my opinion. Either you open the batting or you wait a little to go down the order to bat at number 5 or 6. Since I started opening, from 3 onwards till number 7 I don’t think it is the right position for anyone,” laughed Rohit.
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