IND v AUS 2020: Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar pick Shubman Gill over Prithvi Shaw to open the batting for Team India
There are few better people to ask about an India-Australia Test series than Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. Both legends have suggested that India start Shubman Gill above Prithvi Shaw in the upcoming series.
Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill shot to fame together in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in Australia. Although Shaw made his debut for India before Shubman Gill, he missed a lot of playing time due to an injury.
As things stand, both have come into this tour with a similar number of first-class games behind them. However, Shubman Gill has an edge when it comes to batting average with his aggregate of 68.8 topping Shaw's 58.8.
In the recently concluded warm-up games as well, Shubman Gill fared better than Shaw with his 137 runs against the latter's 62.
More than anything else, Shaw's batting technique has been under scrutiny for some time now. This isn't the case with Shubman Gill, whose back-foot game looks tailor-made for the Australian conditions. Allan Border expressed his elation on the same.
"Sunny, I have been in Sydney for the last couple of days watching your boys run around against Australia 'A'. I was impressed with Gill. I really think he's got something about him and his technique," said Allan Border while referring to Sunil Gavaskar in a joint press conference.
"I know he is young so he can play a few rash shots here and there but he looks a seriously good player. He will be my pick out of the guys I saw," Border added.
Shubman Gill's technique is better than Prithvi Shaw: Sunil Gavaskar
Prithvi Shaw was initially touted as India's next Sachin Tendulkar. However, bowlers seem to have found his weakness around the 4th stump. Allan Border explained his views on the same, saying Shaw looks like he is playing a 'shot every ball'.
"It seems to me like he (Shaw) plays a shot every ball. Against the new ball, it looks good on flat tracks. But in Australia, you've got to be a little bit more watchful about your shot selection. He's just a bit loose outside the off-stump. If I am an Indian selector I am looking very closely at young Shubman Gill," commented Allan Border.
Later in the conference, Gavaskar echoed Allan Border's apprehensions about Shaw's technique. He accepted that Prithvi Shaw plays 'too many shots' for Test cricket. Gavaskar also advised the youngster to work on his defense to perform consistently at the highest level. He said:
"I think he's got to spend a little more time assessing his batting because, as an opening batsman, you've got to give yourself time to see what the pitch is doing and what the bowlers are doing. Trying to bat the way he is at the moment, it is not going to make him a consistent player," observed Gavaskar.
Watch the Border-Gavaskar Test series from December 17, 8:30 am onwards, Live and Exclusive on Sony Six, Sony Ten 1 and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi) channels.