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The 4th Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy has brought a unique set off surprises on the pitch from both teams. For the home side, a young debutant Sam Konstas stole the first day highlights after a thundering knock against elite bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj. For the Indian team, perhaps nothing was more astonishing than the exclusion of young batting sensation, Shubman Gill who was replaced by Washington Sundar.
Mark Waugh hits out at the Indian team management for dumping Shubman Gill
While many fans and cricket legends have questioned axing Gill’s name from the squad, former Australian cricketer and commentator, Mark Waugh had his own set of interesting take on the whole situation.
Seemingly astonished at the decision, the 59-year-old commentator said the following, “When Shubman Gill hurt his finger, they were desperate to bring him in, and now they have booted him out, and wanted an extra bowling option. Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy both can bowl and obviously Gill can’t.”
Gill had earlier fractured his thumb, ahead of the first Test match in Perth due to which he was ruled out from the team for the opening game. The top-order batter returned to the squad for the day-night clash against the Aussies in the second Test at Adelaide, but failed to leave a mark on the match. The 25-year-old was given another chance in the third Test at the Gabba but his batting woes continued. Consequently, Gill was left out for the Boxing Day Test, particularly after he hurt his thumb once again during a net practice session ahead of the 4th Test at Melbourne.
Also Read: AUS vs IND: Here’s why Shubman Gill not playing Boxing Day Test match against Australia
Gill’s current form for India
It has been a silent season with the bat for the young batting sensation. The youngster has scored just 368 runs in the 2024-25 season, a major drop in his batting performance from last season in which he scored 526 runs with an average of 43.83. The batting average for Gill in Tests has gone down to 35.76 without a significant knock from the youngster outside India. His batting performances in the SENA countries, i.e. in South Africa, England, Australia and New Zealand has been particularly worrying. Gill has an average of 39.87 in Australia, 14.66 in England and 18.50 in South Africa, quickly earning him a reputation of a batter suitable only for South Asian conditions.
