Logo

Logo

Chief selector identifies role for Shubman Gill, says discussions held with Rahul Dravid

Prasad also said he had a discussion with India ‘A’ coach about Shubman Gill.

Chief selector identifies role for Shubman Gill, says discussions held with Rahul Dravid

Shubman Gill (Photo: Twitter/@ICC)

MSK Prasad, chief of the all India senior selection committee, on Monday shared his excitement on the prospect of young batsman Shubman Gill. Prasad feels the Punjab batsman, who was also Team India’s World Cup hero in the Under-19 WC 2018, is now ready for international cricket.

“Shubman is comfortable both opening the innings as well as playing in the middle-order. For New Zealand series, we are looking at him as the reserve opener behind Shikhar (Dhawan) and Rohit (Sharma). I won’t comment if he will make it to World Cup but he was phenomenal as an opener for India A in New Zealand,” MSK Prasad said.

Prasad also said he had a discussion with India ‘A’ coach about Shubman Gill.

Advertisement

“We have discussed with Rahul (Dravid), that Shubman is ready for international cricket. The best part is the clutch of A tours which has made all these players battle ready for the biggest challenge,” Prasad said.

Speaking about Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Khaleel Ahmed, Prasad said all of them had been impressive in international cricket and it made him very happy.

“I regularly discuss the progress of the players with Ravi and Rahul. Have a look at how we have planned a player’s progression from Ranji Trophy, A team to senior team. Look at Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal. They don’t look intimidated when thrown into the deep end of the pool,” said Prasad.

Speaking about spin twin Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasad said Team India’s one of the biggest plus points had been taking the risk of unleashing two wrist spinners. Prasad also said his team received a lot “flak” for replacing Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and introducing Chahal and Kuldeep to One-Day setup.

“We received flak when we had replaced world’s No 1 and 2 spinner (as per ICC Rankings) with two young wrist spinners. One and half years down the line, they (Kuldeep and Chahal) have had contribution in at least 70 percent of India’s limited overs wins,” Prasad pointed out.

Advertisement