'If this was Gill from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped' - Subramaniam Badrinath questions batter's contribution in Test team

Subramaniam Badrinath lashed out at Shubman Gill, questioning his contribution to the Indian Test team after the 25-year-old had a disappointing time with the bat against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Badrinath said that Gill should have tried to wear out the Australian bowlers by spending time at the crease. The former India cricketer said that the Punjab batter did not show any intent or aggression during his outings with the willow Down Under.

"It is very difficult for me to see this. For that level, he has not lived up to expectations. You can get runs, you cannot, but there should have been intent and aggression. I wanted him to tire out the bowlers," Badrinath said while speaking on Star Sports Tamil.

"I want you to make the ball old. Help your teammates and stand firm even if runs are not coming. Play 100 balls, tire the bowlers. This is what your team contribution [is supposed to be]. Labuschange and McSweeney did that in a couple of games. By playing out a lot of dot balls, they had actually made Bumrah injured," he added.

Shubman missed the first Test in Perth due to a finger injury. After playing the next two games, he was left out of the playing XI in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne as India opted to go in with three all-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Nitish Kumar Reddy. The Firozpur-born returned to the side for the final Test in Sydney in place of Rohit Sharma but failed to make a mark. In five innings, he finished with 93 runs at an average of 18.60.

Badrinath alleged that the right-handed batter would have been dropped from the team had he been from Tamil Nadu. "If this was Shubman Gill from Tamil Nadu, he would have been dropped," the former Chennai Super Kings batter said.

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Badrinath also opined that Gill was not at his best on the field, pointing out that he wasn't standing in crucial positions like in the slip cordon or at the point.

"You must not go there and say, oh, this is the way I play. I will stand and deliver. Four people will write about it. Whatever you can do, at that time, you try and do. In this series, I did not get it from Shubman. Even on the field, he was poor. He couldn't stay in slip and point. What does he contribute to the team?" Badrinath asked.