Rahul Dravid defends 'right on track' Shubman Gill amid poor Test form

Indian head coach Rahul Dravid backed young batter Shubman Gill to do good in the upcoming five-match Test series against England. He said that the right-hander is putting in the hard yards and is right on the track.

Shubman Gill hasn’t quite cracked the Test format as he has done in ODIs and T20s. He started his career on a high note as an opener as he played a few match-winning innings in Australia and then was decent in the Tests, hitting tons against Bangladesh and Australia at home.

After the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023, Shubman Gill expressed his desire to bat at No.3. But since then nothing has gone his way. The batter bagged failures in the West Indies and it was expected that he would rejuvenate himself in the South Africa tour.

However, he couldn’t set the stage on fire as he bagged a series of low scores in South Africa and received a lot of skewering. Even his place in the team was doubted but he got the confidence from the team management and retained his spot for the upcoming five-match Test series against England.

Rahul Dravid hailed Shubman Gill as a fine player and highlighted that the batter had early success. But people need to understand that it takes time to get going in international cricket.

Rahul Dravid feels that tough pitches have been the main reason behind Shubman Gill’s poor performances in the Tests. He said that the team has played games on tough wickets in the last few years. Speaking to reporters, he explained:

“Gill is a fine player. Starting out as a journey as a cricketer sometimes we forget that it takes little bit of time at times. Some guys have success instantly, actually he is one of those guys who has done really well in some of his early days, especially in Australia.

“To be fair to him a lot of young guys coming through are playing on some challenging wickets, whether it’s been in India or England or West Indies. It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years.”

I think he is on the right track – Rahul Dravid on Shubman Gill

Rahul Dravid further believes that Shubman Gill is doing the right things and is putting in a lot of hard work. While highlighting his tons against Bangladesh and Australia, the Indian head coach added that the batter is on the right track. He explained:

“He is doing all the right things. He is working really hard. He is putting in the time, putting in the effort. In the last season, he has got a couple of nice hundreds for us one in Bangladesh and one in Ahmedabad against Australia. I think he is on the right track.”

Since moving to the No.3 spot, Shubman Gill has managed just 103 runs in six innings. However, the upcoming five-match Test series against England will be a huge opportunity for him to stake his claim in the longest format of the game. He’s expected to bat at No.3 and with him under the firing line, this could be a make-or-break series for him.