“How can you ignore KL Rahul?” - South African legend responds to query on Shubman Gill as Test opener

Former South African captain Graeme Smith is unsure of whether Shubman Gill should be given the role of Test opener right away, especially with KL Rahul around. He, however, agreed that the young Indian batter has plenty of talent and ability.

Following Gill’s stupendous success in white-ball cricket over the last few months, there have been calls from some quarters to replace Rahul as Test opener with the youngster for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Gill and Rahul opened the batting during the Test series in Bangladesh in Rohit Sharma’s absence. While Gill notched up his maiden Test hundred during the series, Rahul, leading the team, managed a highest score of 23 in four innings.

Despite his underwhelming returns, Smith backed the experienced batter over Gill as the Test opener. In an interaction with TOI, he explained:

“That’s the problem in India. You have so much talent. How can you ignore KL Rahul? It’s not an easy call.”

The 42-year-old Proteas legend, however, praised Gill and asserted that the elegant batter will only get better with experience in Test cricket. Smith commented:

“Gill definitely has got the talent and the ability. But for a player to develop, it’s often about figuring out your strengths and weaknesses. As an opening batter in Test cricket, you probably need a slightly better defensive game and work on how you leave deliveries and be aware of the channels you want to play your shots.

“Gill is too good a player not to be successful. I feel as he plays more Test matches, gains experience and learns about the longer version of the game, he will mature.”

Gill, 23, has so far featured in 13 Tests, scoring 736 runs at an average of 32, with one hundred and four fifties.

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“I’ll be more than happy to do it” - KL Rahul on batting in the middle-order against Australia

With Rohit back in the mix for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India will have to pick between Gill and Rahul as the second opener. However, owing to Shreyas Iyer’s unavailability for the first Test, either Gill or Rahul could bat in the middle order.

When asked if he was ready to take on the responsibility, Rahul asserted at a press conference on Tuesday, February 7:

“Whatever the team has asked me to do, I try and prepare that way and try and do my best for the team, and if that is something that the team wants me to do here, I’ll be more than happy to do it.”

On the playing XI for the opening Test against Australia, Rahul added:

“We still haven’t decided on the final XI. It’s going to be a tough decision to make. There are guys who have performed exceedingly well and there are a few spots open so there are a few discussions going on and the players are being spoken to.”

The much-hyped India-Australia series will begin with the first Test at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 9.