Shubman Gill I former selector told many mistakes of Team India in WTC Final, described this player as VVS Laxman gagan khoda says shubman gill is not an opener he is like vvs laxman india did

Mumbai: Former India selector Gagan Khoda says that Indian batsman Shubman Gill should bat in the middle order instead of opening. India had suffered an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC). In this match, Shubman came out to bat with Rohit Sharma and he scored 28 and eight runs.

Gagan told Sportskeeda, ‘Shubman is not an opener. He is like VVS Laxman and he should bat in the middle order. India should go for Mayank Agarwal, who has played just two bad matches. Prithvi Shaw was also dropped from the team after a bad match.

Gagan feels that the team should have replaced Ravindra Jadeja with a fast bowler all-rounder in the WTC final. He said, ‘India should have brought in an extra batsman or a fast bowler all-rounder. Someone like Shardul Thakur should have been taken. Indian captain Virat Kohli also said after the loss that the team missed the fast bowling all-rounder in the playing XI.

‘Preparation for final was not ideal’

Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar said India did well in the last two years in the WTC cycle but their preparation for the final was not ideal. He said, ‘I enjoyed watching cricket matches in this cycle. India performed very well in this round but due to poor preparation they could not do well in the final. He didn’t even play a practice match before such an important match.” Vengsarkar told PTI, “On the other hand the New Zealand match was fit. He had played two Tests (against England) before this.

The Indian players will now take a three-week sabbatical to gather on July 14 for the five-Test series against England starting on August 4. Vengsarkar is surprised by the team’s program. He said, ‘I don’t know how this kind of program was created where you go on a break in the middle and then come back and play Test matches. A week’s sabbatical after the WTC final was enough. You need to keep playing. I am surprised that this program got approval.