IND vs SL: Ex-Selector Devang Gandhi Opines Who Should Bat At Number Three In Mohali Test

The India vs Sri Lanka Test series will start with the Mohali Test from March 4. It will also mark Virat Kohli’s 100th Test. However, the match will be played behind closed doors due to rising Covid cases in and around Mohali. He will become the 12th Indian players to get to the landmark of 100 Test matches.

While Kohli will bat at his usual number four position, the management is thinking about whom to send in at number three. Cheteshwar Pujara who batted for number three for several years is not a part of the Test series. So also is Ajinkya Rahane who batted at number five.

Former Indian selector Deven Gandhi has provided a solution to this problem. He has suggested the game of Shubman Gill for the number three spot. So far, he’s played 10 Tests and in nine of them, the right-hander opened the innings. In the only match, he batted at number three he scored a substantial 47.

Shubman Gill Is India’s Best Bet At Number Three-Devang Gandhi

“I believe Shubman is India’s best bet at number three. Yes, he has opened but Mayank is there alongside Rohit and Shubman has the game to bat at that number,” former national selector and Test opener Devang Gandhi told PTI.

The former selector also said that Gill was being prepared as a number three before he made his Test debut against Australia as an opener. He has scored four fifties opening the batting for India with 91 against Australia at the Gabba being his highest Test score.

“Why I feel the team management might be inclined to try him at No.3 is because when we fast-tracked him into India A system, he had a double hundred in the middle-order against West Indies A in West Indies. Also having already opened in Tests, as No.3 he can also play the new ball well and start moving the game with his repertoire of strokes. You don’t want to get bogged down and with Gill, he can start pushing the envelope,” Gandhi explained.