Aakash Chopra Opens Up On Shubman Gill’s Request To Bat At Number 3 In Tests: The first day of the ongoing Test in Dominica has witnessed a significant shift in Team India’s batting order. The star batter, Shubman Gill, was not seen opening alongside India’s skipper, Rohit Sharma. Instead, it was debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal who held the fort with Sharma at the start of the day.
Shubman Gill’s position change in the batting line-up has sparked discussions among cricket pundits. Aakash Chopra, a former Indian Test opener, shared his insights on the surprising move. He revealed that he had predicted this shift in Gill’s batting order as far back as 2020.
Chopra pointed out on his YouTube channel that he wasn’t surprised by Gill’s position change. He had tweeted when Gill made his debut that the batter would eventually move down the order. Gill, who has so far scored two hundreds and amassed over 900 runs in 16 matches, has now moved to No. 3, as per his own wish.
Further elaborating, Chopra shared that Gill’s wish to play at No. 3 prompted the team management to bring in Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener. According to him, Gill believes he’ll perform better at this position, making the change a fascinating development.
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Aakash Chopra talks about Shubman Gill
However, this alteration is quite unconventional for Indian cricket. Chopra expressed his surprise as such scenarios, where a cricketer dictates his position in the line-up, are rare. Generally, players aren’t given the luxury to request specific positions, nor do they typically approach the management with such requests.
Chopra concluded his thoughts by emphasizing the novelty of this situation in the context of Indian cricket. Such a move is quite uncharacteristic and indicates a potential shift in the team’s dynamics.
Regardless of the reshuffling, Team India appears to be in a strong position in the ongoing Test. They are trailing by a mere 70 runs, with all their wickets still in hand. The rest of the Test will be a litmus test for Gill at his new position and Jaiswal as a debutant opener.
In the end, the shift in the batting order is an interesting plot twist. It serves as a reminder of cricket’s evolving strategies and the increasing autonomy of players within the team’s structure. Whether this move will pay off or not remains to be seen in the remaining days of the Test.
