Rohit Sharma: Shubman Gill was not ‘dropped’ at MCG, missed out due to bowling combinations | Cricket News

Following the harrowing 184-run defeat to Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday, India captain Rohit Sharma said that batter Shubman Gill missed out from the XI only due to the team’s specific requirement of bowling combinations and batting de
“The chat with him was that clearly he was not dropped. We just wanted to have that extra bit of cushion in the bowling and hence we opted for an all-rounder, which shouldn’t weaken our bowling line-up. Compromising a batter for a bowler was not something I wanted to do, we wanted to bat as deep as possible, and along with that have a bowling attack which could take 20 wickets, you know, so we considered everything and we ended up compromising him unfortunately,” Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
Gill, who had scores of 31 and 28 in the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide, fell for 1 in the previous outing in Brisbane. Having not struck a half-century outside Asia since his last tour to Australia in 2020-21, Gill’s position came under the scanner after skipper Rohit opted to move back to the top-order. It meant that in-form opener KL Rahul moved a rung down to three with Rohit pairing up with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Gill eventually ceded his spot in the side to all-rounder Washington Sundar, drafted in as the second spinner behind Ravindra Jadeja.
“Look, with him (Gill), there was never a doubt that he was not batting well, or he was not scoring runs, or anything like that. It was just to get that combination where we can cover both bases, batting and bowling, we opted for that option,” Rohit added.
All-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sundar justified their selections with a gritty century and half-century in the first-innings for India. However, Rohit only used the duo for 27 with the ball across two innings as the pacers, led Jasprit Bumrah, did bulk of the heavy lifting.
India’s top-order, however, was found wanting in both innings as only young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal stood up with stoic 80-plus scores in both innings.
“We don’t make personal decisions, it is in the best interest of the team. We want to put the team ahead and think about what is the right combination for this particular venue and this opposition. So that’s how I plan picking up the team,” Rohit added.

Why should you buy our Subscription?

You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be misled and misinformed.

Choose your subscription package