The skipper confirmed it was the young opener who led the discussions based on the shift one-down with India's experienced coach ahead of the West Indies series.
Rohit Sharma revealed the demotion of Shubman Gill in the Indian batting unit to No.3 was the youngster’s self pondered move and he was the one who led the discussions in relation to the same with head coach Rahul Dravid.
Gill, who has been India’s preferred opening batter since his pathbreaking debut series in Australia in 2020-21, wanted to start off the new cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) at one-down the moment the side had the influx of young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and the great Cheteshwar Pujara stood phased out.
Keen on giving the 23-year-old his expected most fruitful spot ever since the start of his coaching tenure back in November 2021 but unable to amidst untimely injuries, which disturbed combinations, Dravid would’ve been more than happy to gradually push Shubman Gill towards his ultimate destination at No.4, with No.3 being a start.
The discussion between the mighty talented batter and the well-versed head coach brought about the change in the batting unit and paved the way for Jaiswal’s exciting debut against the West Indies in Dominica on Wednesday (July 12) after being identified as the technically solid left-hander.
Speaking to the press ahead of the opening Test of the two-match series at Windsor Park in Roseau, Rohit confirmed Gill be batting at No.3 from this series onwards and provided a rare insight into behind-the-scenes discussion, stating the move was the youngster’s brainchild and has Dravid’s stamp of approval for it.
“About the batting positions, Gill will bat at No.3,” Rohit revealed to the surprise of few, who were anticipating Jaiswal to make his debut one-down. But the team management finds the left-hander’s defence against the new-ball a skill too critical to be wasted by an in-transition Test side.
“He (Gill) himself wanted to bat No.3 and had a conversation with Rahul bhai about it,” the skipper added. “He told Dravid: ‘I have played all my career (domestically) at No.3-No.4 and feel I can do better than I have if I batted one spot below.”
Rohit said they were welcoming of the thought, for it not only gives Gill greater space to maximise his abilities but also brings a left-right combination at the top – which, he revealed, they’ve long desired. Jaiswal batting with Rohit in the opening combination would be India’s first right-left combo against the new-ball since Shikhar Dhawan was dropped.
“It’s good in a way (for Gill to bat No.3) because then out left and right opening combination is sorted,” Rohit said. “We’ll try and persist with this long-term and hopefully it works because we were desperate for many years to have a leftie batting at the top. So let’s hope he (Jaiswal) performs well.”
