‘If this was Gill from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped’ – Subramaniam Badrinath said of batter’s Test team performance

Following a lacklustre batting performance against Australia in the just finished Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25, Subramaniam Badrinath attacked Shubman Gill and questioned his value to the Indian Test team.

According to Subramaniam Badrinath, Gill ought to have spent more time at the crease in an attempt to exhaust the Australian bowlers. The former Indian cricket player claimed that during his encounters with the Willow Down Under, the Punjab hitter lacked aggression and desire.

“This is really hard for me to see. He hasn’t performed up to par for that level. There should have been aggression and intent, but you can’t get runs. Speaking on Star Sports Tamil, Badrinath stated, “I wanted him to exhaust the bowlers.”

“Make the ball old, please. Even if there aren’t any runs coming, support your teammates and remain strong. Tire the bowlers by playing 100 balls. Your team’s contribution [should] look like this. In a few games, Labuschange and McSweeney did that. They had actually wounded Bumrah by playing out a number of dot balls,” he continued.

Shubman’s finger injury kept him out of the first Test match in Perth. In the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, he played the next two games but was not included in the playing XI because India chose to start three all-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. The Firozpur native made a comeback to the team for the last Test match in Sydney, replacing Rohit Sharma, but he was unable to leave an impression. He scored 93 runs at an average of 18.60 in five innings.

According to Badrinath, if the right-handed batter had been from Tamil Nadu, he would have been removed from the team. The previous batter for the Chennai Super Kings stated, “Shubman Gill from Tamil Nadu would have been dropped if this had been him.”

What does Subramaniam Badrinath bring to the team?

Shubman Gill wasn’t playing at his best on the pitch, according to Badrinath, who also noted that he wasn’t in key areas like the point or the slip cordon.

It’s not appropriate for you to go there and say, “Oh, this is how I play.” I’ll deliver while standing. It will be written about by four people. You try to do whatever you can at the moment. I didn’t get it from Shubman Gill in this series. He was impoverished even on the pitch. He was unable to remain in slip and point. What does he bring to the group? Badrinath enquired.