Make Gill and Agarwal open in the practice game to know who's better for English conditions: Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian skipper and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar suggested some changes in India’s Test XI after their loss to New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship. India is next scheduled to play against England in the five-match Test series, starting from August 4. Before the Test series, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to conduct the warm-up games.

Gavaskar lauded the idea of hosting practice games and believes that it will provide the Indian team management a good opportunity to decide their opening combination. The veteran backed Mayank Agrawal to make a comeback in the team. Gavaskar added that during the practice games, India should let Mayank and Shubman Gill open the innings so that a comparison can be made between the two.

“Mayank Agarwal has done a really good job for India, twice he’s scored a double century opening the innings. It’s a good thing that the BCCI and Jay Shah have taken the initiative to conduct some warm-up matches before the England Tests so there you can decide who between Gill and Agarwal can open for India,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

“Make them open the innings together because Rohit Sharma is a certainty and he can be rested for a game. That would give you an idea who has the better technique for English conditions. And then based on that, they can make a decision whether they want to play Mayank Agarwal or Shubman Gill,” he added.

If Shubman Gill works a bit hard, he will get the reward: Sunil Gavaskar 

Further in the interaction, Gavaskar carried out a detailed analysis regarding Gill‘s batting technique. Gill was picked ahead of Mayank in the WTC Final, however the youngster failed to impress. Speaking about Gill, Gavaskar added the youngster doesn’t have an impressive footwork and needs to work on that aspect of the game to excel.

“His (Gill’s) footwork isn’t much. He only goes in front and that’s not the case with him only in England. Even in the series in India, there too, he had just one movement which is forward. There’s no effort to go on the backfoot and that is why he plays across the line.

“Because once your feet go forward, with that balance, it’s tough to get back on the backfoot if the length is slightly short, is tough. So he needs to work hard, there’s no doubt on his talent. But if he works a bit hard, he will get the reward,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.