"He has opened in Test and limited overs but the number 3 was his preference" - Rohit Sharma on Shubman Gill's struggles at No.3 in Tests
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma revealed that it was Shubman Gill's preference to bat at No.3 in Tests and backed the youngster to come good ahead of the second Test against South Africa at Cape Town.
Despite all his white-ball heroics, Gill has struggled in the red-ball format, with an overall average of 31.06 in 19 games. His form has worsened since moving to No.3 in the West Indian tour.
The 24-year-old has scored only 73 runs in five innings at the position at a dismal average of 18.25, with a highest score of only 29*.
Speaking at the press conference ahead of the second Test against South Africa, Rohit feels Gill has the batting smarts to regain his red-ball form.
"Gill is smart and understands his batting pretty well," Rohit said. "He prefers that number. He has batted in the Ranji Trophy at that number around that position. He has opened in Test and limited overs game but the number 3 was his preference. He feels he can do well for us batting at that position. It is an individual things about how you think about certain positions."
"There is not much difference (on opening to batting at number 3)," he added. "It takes just 1 ball for a number 3 to go in. And sometimes when an opener gets injured, a number 3 has to walk out and open the innings. I don't see much difference there."
Shubman Gill's move down to No.3 happened to fit the upcoming Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the batting with Rohit Sharma. The Punjab-born batter scored only 2 and 26 in the opening Test against South Africa at Cape Town.
"I hated batting at number 3 and that is my opinion" - Rohit Sharma
Despite stating that there wasn't a difference between opening and batting at No.3, Rohit Sharma admitted hating batting one-drop throughout his career.
Rohit's claims are justified by the numbers at the position, with the 36-year-old averaging a dismal 23.60 in 17 innings across formats. Rohit has also never scored a hundred at No.3 and boasts only three half-centuries there.
"I hated batting at number 3 and that is my opinion. Either you open the batting or you wait a little to go down the order to bat at number 5 or 6. Since I started opening, from 3 onwards till number 7 I don't think it is the right position for anyone," Rohit said.
Since becoming India's primary opener, Rohit has been exceptional, scoring 40 of his 45 centuries at the top of the order.
However, in his first game after a sensational 2023 World Cup campaign, Rohit was dismissed for 5 and 0 in the first Test against South Africa in Centurion.
India will look to avoid a series whitewash in the Cape Town Test, starting on January 3.