Shubman Gill vs Suryakumar Yadav! Ravi Shastri reveals his pick ahead of 1st Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test

Former India coach Ravi Shastri weighed in on the Shubman Gill vs Suryakumar Yadav debate and said he wanted to see the Mumbai batter play in the No.5 spot ahead of the first Test against Australia in Nagpur. Shastri also said he would like to see India use a specialist wicketkeeper.

Shastri would like to see SKY play at No.5 instead of Gill (Courtesy: AP)

By India Today Web Desk: Former India coach Ravi Shastri weighed in on the Shubman Gill vs Suryakumar Yadav debate and said that he would prefer to have the Mumbai batter in the lineup ahead of the first Test in the Border-Gavaskar trophy in Nagpur.

Shreyas Iyer’s failure to recover from a back injury opened up a spot at No.5 in the Indian team lineup with Gill and Yadav being picked as the ones to fill the void.

The 23-year-old has excelled at the opener’s spot for India in recent times in all formats but KL Rahul could be restored to the slot to partner captain Rohit Sharma.

Yadav has been a stalwart in T20Is for India and many have been clamouring for him to make his red-ball cricket debut after his performances. Speaking to the ICC, as quoted by Sportskeeda, Shastri weighed in on the debate and said the 32-year-old should be given the nod.

The former India coach went on to say that India needs the right guy at the right spot and Yadav demands the spot given his ability to play spin.

“At number five, Suryakumar (Yadav) will get the position, because there’s no Shreyas (Iyer). There’ll be talk about, ‘can (Shubman) Gill bat at five?’ I think you need the right guy for the right number. At five, when you go there, especially if the ball is turning, then you need someone who is good at playing the right shots against spin. Surya demands that position. I think it’s straightforward,” said Shastri.

The wicketkeeper’s slot is also a toss up between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan. Shastri went on to say that India should opt for a specialist keeper as they have quality spinners in the form of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

“Here you need a guy who’s very good with the gloves, because you’ve got quality spinners. You’ve got Ash (Ashwin), you’ve got Jadeja, you’ve got Kuldeep. If the ball spins, you need a very good keeper. If you look at this Australian line-up, they’ve got some seasoned campaigners there. You don’t want to miss out on a big player at 25 or 30, and he goes to get 130 and makes you pay for it,” said Shastri