Rohit Sharma clarifies the reason behind Shubman Gill’s exclusion from MCG Test

As India slumped down to a second defeat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, questions were asked about the absence of Shubman Gill. Addressing this all-important question in the post-match presser, Rohit Sharma clarified the fact that Gill wasn’t dropped but his position was handed to a bowler in view of the conditions.

Rohit said, “I had a chat with him [Gill]. There's no way when you're leaving someone out, for whatever reason it is, you will not have a chat. The chat with him was clear that he was not dropped. [We] just wanted to have an extra bit of cushion in the bowling and we opted for an allrounder, which shouldn't weaken our batting line-up.”

He further added, “Compromising a batter for a bowler is not something I wanted to do. We wanted to bat as deep as possible, along with that have a bowling attack which can take 20 wickets. We considered everything and we ended up compromising him, unfortunately.”

Rohit continued, “With him [Gill], there was never a doubt that he wasn't batting well or he was not scoring runs, or anything like that. Just to get that combination where we can cover both bases - batting and bowling, we opted for that [leaving Gill out]."

With a solitary Test remaining, India will have to figure out the perfect combination if they are to draw level in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Shubman Gill’s presence in the Indian batting echelons might just provide the all-important boost that India will be looking forward to, considering the formidable Aussie bowling unit that will be gunning for an important win.