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IND vs WI 3rd ODI: Pragyan Ojha slams Shubman Gill, says `he`s not even the third-choice opener`
Pragyan Ojha wants more from Shubman Gill. He says that Gill is not even India`s third choice opener, he is probably the fourth or five and he needs to deliver the big runs if he wants to stay in contention for a permanent spot in the playing XI.
Ahead of the IND vs WI 3rd ODI, a statement from Pragyan Ojha on the Indian opening batter Shubman Gill is going viral on the internet. Gill struck a fifty in the first ODI vs West Indies while he fell 7 runs short of a fifty in the 2nd ODI. He is in good touch but the young batter has not been able to make most of his time in the middle. He has got the starts but has failed to convert the starts into big scores. He has scored 64 in 43 in the 2 ODIs but former Indian spinner Pragyan Ojha wants more from him. He says that Gill is not even India's third choice opener, he is probably the fourth or five and he needs to deliver the big runs if he wants to stay in contention for a permanent spot in the playing XI.
"You have three matches. Did you see how he was dismissed in the first two? I am not being critical. When you have such opportunities and the team has given you a chance from the first match of the series, and you have got a brilliant start… you have to convert it, score a big hundred because he’s not even the third-choice opener. You’re the fourth or fifth. How else will you climb up? You have to get those big runs. Gill is in tremendous form, He will have to think about… one, the way he was run out in the first match. Second, how he got out in the next game, that caught and bowled. It was not needed," Ojha was speaking on cricket journalist Jamie Alter's chat show on Glance.
By giving example of Sanju Samson, Ojha advised Gill to understand that there are many waiting in the wings. He said because there are better wicketkeepers than Sanju, he has not got many chances. Likewise, there is Rututaj Gaikwad waiting for an opportunity and if he makes it big when he gets the chance, coming back will be tough for Gill.