Due in large part to the clarity of their batting positions, former India selector Devang Gandhi thinks both KL Rahul and captain Shubman Gill now seem more at ease in the Test squad. Gandhi emphasised that both players have benefited from knowing their duties, with Gill replacing Virat Kohli in the crucial No. 4 position and Rahul now starting the innings.
KL in particular, Gandhi said, has suffered for a long time because of his inconsistent batting position, having alternated between No. 3 and No. 6 throughout the years. Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal have taken the opening spot, though, because Rohit Sharma is no longer in the red-ball setup. In the first Test match against England, Gill and Rahul both answered with hundreds, but their efforts were in vain.
Gandhi reminisced about his time as a selector and said that during India A games, head coach Dravid would put Gill in the middle order, when the 25-year-old put on one of his best first-class performances.
“Gill and Rahul feel confident in their batting totals.
Dravid played Gill in the middle order during the “A” trips when we were selectors, and it was one of his better first-class knocks. They most likely feel safer in their current locations. Now that they are at the top of the batting order, they must be enjoying it,” Gandhi told the Times of India.
In the first Test at Leeds, the majority of the runs were scored by India’s top five batsmen, with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant leading the way with two hundreds. With a century apiece, Rahul, Gill, and Jaiswal also made significant contributions. Jasprit Bumrah made an impression as a bowler in the first innings, taking five wickets.
India failed to turn their dominance into a victory, losing by five wickets despite a number of individual successes. In the second Test, which starts at Edgbaston on July 2, they will try to recover.
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