MS Dhoni gave Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma a longer run; unfair if Shubman Gill doesn’t get the same: Gautam Gambhir

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir reckons that Shubman Gill shouldn’t be dropped from India’s playing eleven if he gets out cheaply in a match or two. The youngster made his Test debut after Prithvi Shaw was dropped following the Adelaide Test. Back in 2019, Gill made his ODI debut and had to wait for nearly two years to get into the national Test team.

Gambhir reckons that making a Test debut in a Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is a privilege in itself. He also wants the Indian team management to be patient with the Young Turk and not drop him after some initial low scores.

Pick Shubman Gill on trust, says Gautam Gambhir

“Only time will tell if Shubman Gill will be successful as an opening batsman. But getting an opportunity making your debut in a Boxing Day Test in Australia, it can’t get much bigger than that,” Gambhir was quoted as saying to Sports Tak.

“But again, I expect the team management not to pick him on hope. Pick him on trust. Because if you pick somebody on trust you end up giving him a longer opportunity or a longer run. When you pick someone on hope, you are only expecting I hope he does well,” he quipped.

“It will be very unfair on Shubman Gill if he opens the batting and gets to a 20-30 and then suddenly Rohit Sharma comes back and Gill finds himself outside the playing XI,” he added.

Gambhir also said that Shubman should be backed the way MS Dhoni showed support for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

“That’s not going to be fair on him. If you decide to pick Shubman Gill, pick him on trust and believe in him and probably give him a longer run like what Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma got under MS Dhoni,” Gambhir stated.

Back in 2018-19, Mayank Agarwal also made his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test and he has 1,000 runs in the format at an average of 52.63. As far as the ongoing series is concerned, India are trailing it by 0-1 and are looking to stage a comeback after their eight-wicket loss in Adelaide.