BAN vs IND | Twitter reacts to Shubman Gill wasting rare opportunity to seal Test spot on flat Chittagong track with silly dismissal

SportsCafe Desk

By SportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Opportunities in India come rare when it comes to cricket, given the surreal amounts of talent waiting in the wings and a host of senior players locked into their position. Shubman Gill got lucky to be fielded in the first Test against Bangladesh but squandered his chance to justify the selection.

After nearly a six-month break, India are back donning the all-whites in the first of two Tests against Bangladesh. KL Rahul walked out for the toss at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Wednesday, in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma who injured his left thumb in the second ODI, and chose to bat first after winning the coin flip. The decision seemed like an obvious one, given just a hint of grass on a hard surface which looked like it would not give assistance to either seam or spin bowlers.

The captain walked out to open alongside Shubman Gill, with the youngster afforded a rare opportunity after some discussions ahead of the game of handing Abhimanyu Easwaran a maiden cap instead of the 23-year-old from Punjab. Gill, with a tally of 599 runs in 22 innings at an average of 29.95, has struggled for consistency in the format on the international stage but has shown glimpses of promise in the past, with four half-centuries to his name including a crucial 91 at the historic win in Gabba. 

Thus, with the chance to seal his spot in the lineup at least for the tour, Gill started out comfortable and cruised along to 20. However, facing left-arm spinner Taijul Islam in the 14th over, Gill threw away the opportunity in excruciating fashion. The first ball of the over was pitched full around leg-stump and Gill, seemingly anticipating such a delivery, was in position to play the paddle sweep as soon as the ball left the bowler's hand. However, the right-hander failed to get to the pitch of the ball as it bounced towards the batter and ended up striking his willow's top edge. The ball looped up despairingly and was comfortably caught by Yasir Ali at leg-slip. Twitterati was quick to point out the needlessness of the stroke at such a stage of the game and career for Gill, as they took to social media to express their frustration over the opener's poor shot selection.

Oh lord!

Missed opportunity

Softy

Absoultey horrendous

Harsh criticism

Wannabe cool

Sad state

He is not having a great time in the middle!

Mayank or Shubhman, who would you chose?

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