Nitish Kumar Reddy targeted as Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma slammed for dropping Shubman Gill in MCG Test

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar isn't pleased with India's team combination for the Melbourne Test against Australia. Manjrekar feels that the decision to drop Shubman Gill didn't work well for the team as they missed out on a specialist batter.

While Gill did not play, India opted to play the all-rounders like Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar together in the Playing XI. Gill was replaced by Sundar as India's only change in the Playing XI for the Melbourne Test.

Also read: Sunil Gavaskar exposes Virat Kohli’s technical flaws, blames seniors for India's MCG Test loss

Sanjay Manjrekar not happy with Shubman Gill's omission

During a discussion on India's combination for Melbourne Test, Sanjay Manjrekar blasted Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir for opting to play an allrounder in favor of a specialist batter. According to him, Shubman Gill could have played well on this pitch since it was suited to his style.

"You tried to address the batting uncertainties by getting a bowler who can bat. Nitish Kumar Reddy in the side at the expense of Shubman Gill. So, they left out a proper batter and in hindsight, you'd think on a pitch like this, the flattest pitch on all five days so far in the series, Shubman Gill would have been handy," Manjrekar explained.

While Shubman was dropped, India also made some changes in their batting order by moving the captain Rohit Sharma to his usual position as an opener. KL Rahul was moved down to No. 3 after having a great series as an opening batter.

Washington Sundar can never be like Shubman Gill - Sanjay Manjrekar

Further speaking on India's combination, Sanjay Manjrekar claimed that India missed a trick by not playing a top-order batter like Gill as his replacement Washington Sundar can never be as good a batter as him.

"Nitish Kumar Reddy did well and thankfully that helped matters. But it's an approach that never works where Washington Sundar in the end was playing as a batter, and he's never going to be as good as a top-order batter like Shubman Gill," he noted.

India played three batting allrounders in their Playing XI and the combination didn't quite work for them as they struggled for an extra bowling option. Sundar scored a vital 50 but didn't have much to do with the ball.

Nitish Kumar Reddy slams maiden Test ton

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy had a great game with the bat as he slammed his maiden Test ton. It was also Reddy's first international century and it came in a high-profile game like the Boxing Day Test.

The young allrounder scored 114 off 189 balls and helped India reach closer to Australia's first-innings total. It remains to be seen if India opts to bring back Gill for the final Test in Sydney.

India will be looking to strengthen their batting order after a disappointing performance in Melbourne. Gill has had an ordinary Test series so far with 60 runs in two Tests at an average of 20 while batting at No. 3. He had earlier missed the first Test in Perth due to injury.