I am little surprised that they have dropped Shubman Gill: Sunil Gavaskar

The current Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25 clearly reflects Shubman Gill‘s declining batting form in Test matches. He has batted in three innings throughout two Test matches, scoring a maximum of 31 runs at an average of 20 runs. His thumb injury kept him out of the first Test, and Devdutt Padikkal filled in for him in Perth.

Rohit Sharma, the skipper, is having trouble scoring runs in the middle order after allowing KL Rahul, who is in excellent form, to open the batting. In the fourth Test, Gill was dropped in an attempt to play an additional spinner and get back into that top order. When the young batsman was dropped, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was taken aback and implied that there might have been a different outcome.

“Well, I believe that one move was anticipated, but I’m a little taken aback that they selected Washington Sundar and eliminated Shubman Gill.

Washington Sundar won’t cause any issues because he will bowl a lot. A lot of bowling will be his. However, Gavaskar stated, as cited by News18, “I felt that Washington Sundar should have replaced Nitish Kumar Reddy if anyone had to be replaced.”

They’re not looking for the fourth bowler if you’re batting at number eight and bowling roughly ten overs. However, this batting lineup appears to be excellent. Right now, the top order isn’t working. On this wicket, India should be able to score a tonne of runs if the top order performs well,” he continued.

In relation to the Melbourne Test, Australia chose to bat first on a track that was hitter-friendly after winning the toss. With debutants Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne smashing half-centuries at the top of the order, they got off to a strong start. However, India swiftly recovered thanks to a three-for from Jasprit Bumrah, finishing Day 1 at 311/6 with Pat Cummins and Steven Smith still undefeated at 68 and 8, respectively.