Rahul Dravid defends Shubman Gill’s poor form in Tests, clarifies KL Rahul’s role and gives his verdict on Hyderabad pitch

Rahul Dravid defended Shubman Gill’s struggle in the Test cricket, made it clear that KL Rahul won’t be playing as a wicketkeeper and the pitch at the Uppal Stadium in Hyderabad will turn from Day 1.

Gill, 24, who has been in great touch in the white-ball has failed to convert his form in the Test cricket. Since moving down to the No 3 position in West Indies, he has only managed 103 runs in six innings.

“Gill is a fine player. Starting out as a journey as a cricketer sometimes we forget that it takes little bit of time at times. Some guys have success instantly, actually he is one of those guys who has done really well in some of his early days, especially in Australia,” Dravid told reporters on Tuesday.

Dravid blamed it on the tough wickets on which the Test cricket has been played in the last two or three years.

“To be fair to him a lot of young guys coming through are playing on some challenging wickets, whether it’s been in India or England or West Indies. It has been a pretty challenging wickets for the last two or three years,” he said.

“He is doing all the right things. He is working really hard. He is putting in the time, putting in the effort. In the last season he has got a couple of nice hundreds for us one in Bangladesh and one in Ahmedabad against Australia. I think he is on the right track,” added Dravid.

Rahul Dravid also made it clear that KL Rahul, who kept wickets in South Africa will not be keeping wickets in the five-match Test series against England, and it will be a toss up between KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel for the wicketkeeper-batter role.

“Rahul will not be playing as a wicket-keeper in this series and we are clear about that in the selection itself. We have picked two other wicket-keepers and obviously Rahul did a fantastic job for us in South Africa and really played a big part in helping us draw the series,” Dravid said.

“But considering five Test matches (against England) and playing in these conditions the selection will be between the two other keepers we have,” he said.

On the question of how the pitch will behave in Hyderabad, the India head coach said: “It is hard one to say till the start. It’s look good. It will spin a little bit, how fast and how quickly that I am not sure. It will the spinners as the game goes on.”

India will be without Virat Kohli for the first two games citing personal reasons.

“Virat Kohli has requested the BCCI to be withdrawn from the first two Tests of the upcoming Test series against England, citing personal reasons,” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a statement.

The first Test begins in Hyderabad on Thursday and the coach said it will be a big opportunity for someone else to step.

“Any team will miss the quality of player like Virat. He has been phenomenal, his records speaks for himself. He is a huge boost to this side. It just present another opportunity to somebody else to step up and put in some performances show what they have got,” he said.

With Virat out and the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara being phased out, the Indian Test team is currently looking a bit thin on paper. Dravid doesn’t agree with it, he said: We have got some good experience in this side. Rahul himself has played close to 50 Tests. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin are there for more than a decade for us. Shreyas and Shubman has not played a lots of Test cricket but these five Tests are opportunity for them to grab this opportunity.”

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