“England is a tough tour where Gill has to score a lot of runs in the absence of Rohit and Virat, so there’s no need to put unnecessary pressure on a young kid,” Venkat told mid-day on Sunday
India’s Shubman Gill. Pic/AFP
Former national selector Raja Venkat does not agree with the appointment of top-order batter Shubman Gill as India’s new Test captain. He feels Gill could have been appointed as the deputy to KL Rahul, who has more experience.
“England is a tough tour where Gill has to score a lot of runs in the absence of Rohit and Virat, so there’s no need to put unnecessary pressure on a young kid,” Venkat told mid-day on Sunday.
Raja Venkat
Venkat feels that since Gill is not an opener, this will only add to the pressure. “He [Gill] will go at No. 3 or 4, which means everyone will be under pressure. We should give Gill some time to settle down as captain. It’s a tough job. Gill will soon realise that there’s a big difference between captaining a franchise team and a national side. In the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma [both retired from Tests recently], the team will need Gill more as a batter than captain,” Venkat, 66, added.
The former Bengal player is also unhappy about the omission of pacer Mohammed Shami. “If [Jasprit] Bumrah breaks down, then who do we have? Mohammed Shami should have been taken along. The medical team could have monitored him and he could have been used later in the series,” said Venkat, who was a national selector from 2008 to 2012. Venkat refused to treat Shardul Thakur as an all-rounder. “How many matches has he [Thakur] won for India with his bat or ball? At the most, he will be asked to bowl when Bumrah needs rest,” he said, going on to pick his bowling unit for the opening Test in Leeds.
“I feel Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and Thakur will play the opening Test that begins on June 20,” concluded Venkat.
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