Anil Kumble Isn't In Favour Of Shubman Gill Opening In Test Series Against Australia, Says, 'I Won't Change The Winning Combination...'

IND vs NZ, 1st Test: India's star batter Shubman Gill had played in Australia before and is now used to batting at the No.3 position as per ex-India skipper Anil Kumble. He has requested the team management to resist promoting Gill as an opener when Rohit Sharma misses a Test match in the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia.

Shubman Gill started his career as an opener when he made his debut in Melbourne in 2020. He has batted as an opener in 17 Test matches and was then pushed to the No.3 position last year. The team management then started looking for an alternative to Cheteshwar Pujara and it was Gill, who willingly batted down the order and let Yashasvi Jaiswal be the opener with Rohit Sharma in the longest format.

There are speculations that Rohit Sharma would be missing the series opener in the five-match Test series against Australia owing to personal reasons and thus the slot of another opener would then be vacant. Kumble has reckoned that it should be KL Rahul, who should open along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Also Read: OTD in 2013, Virat Kohli scored the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian against Australia

"You know he (Shubman) is exceptionally talented, skillful and he's done that. He's been to Australia before. Like you mentioned, in Brisbane, he got a wonderful fifty there and he knows the conditions," Kumble was quoted as saying on Jio Cinema.

"I don't want to change that. I know there's a temptation to push Shubman Gill because Rohit is not available in the first Test. But, there's always KL Rahulâ€æ that name is synonymous with change and adapting to whatever the team wants. Whether you want to open the batting or keep wickets, Rahul Dravid did that, and now KL Rahul is doing that," he revealed.

Gill scored a match-winning knock of 91 runs in India's historic win at the Brisbane Test in 2021 as an opener. He has eventually found himself comfortable as a No.3 batter.

Gill may have to change a bit: Kumble

Kumble emphasized how different Gill's batting is from that of Rahul Dravid and Chetehswar Pujara as a No.3 batter. He called Gill a versatile batter and that his batting at the No.3 position would play a huge role in helping the team win matches.

"You said, for the last 25 years, there have been only two players who have been consistently playing and it's a tough role. I mean, both those batsmen, Rahul and Cheteshwar, contributed immensely during that period, and you know you have to balance it out. You could probably be batting the second ball of the test match, or you could be batting much later when the conditions are easier," he revealed.

"But more often than not, you get in there to control that first session and see off the new ball because we know that the Kookaburra Ball after the 1st 25 hours, the best time to bat is between the 30th over and the 60th over. And that's what these two batters did throughout their careers, ensuring that the team was safe and the four number four, number five, and number six batters, came in much later into the lineup so that they could comfortably bat and score the runs. So Shubman will have to play that role very specifically in Australia. He may have to change a little bit based on the conditions. He has the ability (to do that) as well," he concluded.

It's the first time in 30 years, that India and Australia would be playing a five-match Test series. This series would begin on November 22 in Perth.