IND vs AUS | No two ways about Shubman Gill replacing Prithvi Shaw, states Gundappa Viswanath

India have had the worst possible start to a four-match Test series, with a loss against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. While India were in a position to come away with a crucial victory, their collapse on Day 3 rendered their earlier efforts null and void. At the top of the order, Prithvi Shaw’s batting form saw yet another failure, with him posting single-digit scores in both the innings. 

Alongside that, in the absence of Virat Kohli, the Indian management have a few bold calls to make in regards to the makeup of the team. Former Indian batsman Gundappa Viswanath stated that there are no two ways about the management replacing the out-of-form opener Prithvi Shaw with the talented Shubman Gill. He also added that KL Rahul should replace the departing Kohli in the playing XI. 

“However, some changes become imperative. (Shubman) Gill has to come in place of (Prithvi) Shaw. No two ways about it. (KL) Rahul will come in place of Kohli. I don’t know how bad is (Mohammed) Shami’s injury. Hopefully, he will recover. Rohit (Sharma) is there, but he will be available only for the last two Tests,” wrote Gundappa Viswanath on his column for Indian Express. 

He also insisted that the Indian team work their way from the nightmare, pulling up their socks ahead of the Boxing Day clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The former Indian batsman also put it down to the extra bounce and pace to have caused the downfall of the Indian batting unit on Day 3 of the Adelaide Test.

“Everything combines when a team gets out for such a low score. All the bowlers will bowl very well, top-order batsmen will get some very good deliveries, and there will not be much resistance from the lower order. It doesn’t feel good. But they have to just leave this behind and pull up their socks,” he further added.

At the same time, he warned the current crop of players to forget about fancy shots and concentrate on building the required application. He also proclaimed that the Indian team has played enough cricket to get this horrible loss out of their system. 

“The Indian team have played enough cricket to get this out of their system. There are players in this team who have played 60-70 Tests and even without Kohli, this team has the ability to bounce back. Rahane has captained India before, some years back, and guided the team to victory. You have to come good in the next three Tests. Forget about fancy shots. A lot of application is needed,” he concluded.