KL Rahul was on Thursday dropped from the squad for the three-match series against South Africa as Shubman Gill won his first call-up to the Test XV.
Rahul’s axing means Rohit Sharma will be propelled to the opener’s slot in the longer version too. The limited overs vice-captain, who last played a Test in December 2018, will open with Mayank Agarwal and has been given all three Tests against South Africa to make his case.
Rookie Gill will act as a “back-up” for both the opening and middle-order positions.
“Yes, we are definitely looking at him (Rohit) and want to give him an opportunity up the order. He is keen (on opening) and the selection committee as well as everyone (team management) is keen. We want to see where he stands and then take a call,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said after a meeting of the selection panel in New Delhi on Thursday.
“He has been opening in white-ball cricket for more than a decade (since 2013)… We feel he has the ability to bat up the order, we have seen that in white-ball cricket, and if he can do that in red-ball cricket, then nothing like it. We have a lot of practice matches coming up, which will be a boost to this side.”
Rohit will captain the Board President’s XI in a three-day warm-up match against the Proteas in Vizianagaram from September 26. Bengal’s Abhimanyu Easwaran and Ishant Porel are also part of the Board President’s XI.
Gill has been pressing his case with consistent performances in the domestic circuit and for India A.
Only this week, captaining India A against South Africa A in Thiruvananthapuram, Gill scored 90 in the first innings as an opener.
“He (Gill) has done well both as an opener and in the middle order, so he can be a back-up for both the slots,” Prasad said. “That’s the reason when KL was dropped out, we had given him the opportunity, but as he keeps playing he’ll get more opportunities because he’s a player for all three formats.”
Prasad said that Rahul got a fair run but a dip in form forced the selectors to go for a change. “We definitely communicated to KL.
“He is an exceptional talent and unfortunately his form has dipped in red-ball cricket,” Prasad said.
On the road ahead for Rahul, Prasad said: “When VVS Laxman was once dropped from the Indian team, he went back to domestic cricket, scored 1400 runs in the Ranji Trophy and came back. KL has to do the same,” said Prasad.
The selectors indicated that they have created a pool of openers and whoever now gets an opportunity, will get a long rope just like Rahul did.
“So you know, in the pipeline, Shubman is opening and we have Priyank Panchal and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who are doing extremely well. From the available lot, we will look at giving them as many opportunities.
“Whoever gets an opportunity, also gets a fair run. We have alternatives and back-ups, we have created bench strength,” Prasad asserted.
Prasad also gave a fair indication that team management’s patience with Rishabh Pant is finally running out even though he remains the first-choice for the selection panel.
“My answer is same. Let’s see. Rishabh definitely to begin with but we will see whether the team management thinks on those lines. Let’s leave it to them. Also in India, we need a keeper with some more skills playing at home, let’s see how it goes,” he said.
Test Squad
Virat Kohli (c), Mayank Agarwal, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Shubman Gill.