Sunil Gavaskar Suggests A Possible Change At India's Opening Combination Against England

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has suggested a change in the opening combination ahead of the Test series against England. After losing the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand, the Indian team is gearing up to make a comeback in the five-match Test series against England. Sunil Gavaskar believes that Mayank Agarwal should get the nod in place of Shubman Gill to open the innings.

Mayank Agarwal has stayed on the sidelines after experiencing two bad games in Australia and since Shubman Gill had a productive series down under. The Karnataka opener averages a healthy 45.74 in 14 Tests by scoring 1052 runs, scoring three centuries. With the BCCI requesting a couple of warm-up games before the series, the management could give Agarwal some opportunities in those before deciding if he could become Gill’s replacement at the top.

Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that Mayank Agarwal has done an outstanding job for India at the top, scoring two double centuries while opening the innings. The 71-year old feels that BCCI has done well by asking for some warm-up games before the series; hence, India could decide whether or not Agarwal could open the innings. Gavaskar believes that Gill and Agarwal could open together and based on that, they could decide Rohit Sharma’s partner against England.

“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. Make them open the innings together because Rohit Sharma is a certainly 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,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

There’s no effort to go on the backfoot and that is why he plays across the line: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar went on to express his disappointment on Shubman Gill’s footwork, claiming that his foot only moves forward, regardless of the conditions. Gavaskar underlined that there exists no backward movement which is why he plays across the line.

“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,” he added.

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