Virat Kohli, KL Rahul's absence a blessing in disguise for Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer

virat kohli, kl rahul's absence a blessing in disguise for shubman gill, shreyas iyer

India’s batters Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in South Africa

Virat Kohli’s unavailability continues to be a major factor for Team India even as they try to bounce back from the unexpected defeat against England in the series opener in Hyderabad. The start batter is officially not available till the second Test due to personal reasons. There is still no confirmation of his return from the third Test. To make matters worse, India also lost KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja to injuries. At this stage, the team management would think twice before taking a drastic decision against out-of-form batters Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer.

There is no doubt that both Gill and Iyer are finding it hard to get going in Test cricket. Gill’s last 50-plus score came 11 innings ago. The same for Iyer. Moreover, they appeared to be the two of the most unasured batters of the Indian team in the first Test in Hyderabad.

Ever since moving to No.3 in place of Cheteshwar Pujara, Gill has registered scores of 6, 10, 29*, 2, 26, 36, 10, 23, 0. Iyer, in the middle-order, has fared no better. The right-hander, who started with a century and a half-century on debut, has been struggling to score for quite some time now. Despite being considered one of the better players of spin, his returns in home Tests since 2023 have been worrisome.

In a full-strength Indian squad devoid of any injury concerns, Gill and Iyer might have found it difficult to hold on to their places, especially after a shocking defeat in the series opener. But under the current circumstances, where only captain Rohit Sharma has more than 4000 runs in the Indian Test squad, the team management might continue backing Gill and Iyer.

Irfan Pathan backs Iyer and Gill to come good

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan said the absence of Kohli is a massive factor. “A senior player like Virat Kohli’s absence is a massive factor. Over that KL Rahul is also injured. So the team management has plenty to think about. They need to think whether to give a chance to a new player straight away or wait a bit,” Pathan said on the sidelines of the launch of Asian Legends League.

“There is no doubt that these two boys (Gill and Iyer) haven’t performed for quite some time now but it is not that they have never performed.”

Sarfaraz vs Patidar

In case the team management decides to include a new batter, the toss-up will be between Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz, who has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket.

“Obviously, there are two new players in the squad — Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz. But the Indian team management doesn’t have Virat Kohli’s service at the moment, so it will be difficult for the team management to blood in a new player straightaway. They would want to back experience,” Pathan explained.

“So it’s a big challenge but looking at the scenario, they might be now thinking of going with experience. Shreyas and Shubman have been there for quite some time now and have experience, which comes into play in crunch situations.

“I feel the team management will back them because 2-3 experienced players are not there in the team,” the former bowling all-rounder added.

In case one between Patidar and Sarfaraz is picked, Pathan’s vote is with the former as he made the squad before the prolific Mumbai ‘Run Machine’.

Pathan, however, didn’t want to press the panic button after the loss in the series opener and backed India to win the five-match rubber.

“We lost just one match but that doesn’t mean our bowlers are not good. I knew we would lose one or two match but it is good because there is plenty of learning from defeat. I hope we win the series and I still feel India will win the series. The series is not over yet,” he said.

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