Ravi Shastri Criticizes Gautam Gambhir for Playing Musical Chairs at No. 3

ByAnupam Pandey,SportsCafe Editor

Yesterday at 6:59 PM

Team India still continues to experiment batsmen at the number three position. But such experiments have cost the Indian team a number of Test games, and the second Test against South Africa might add to this list. Former Indian Head Coach, Ravi Shastri, has called out Gautam Gambhir on such issues.

Over the transition phase, the Indian team has deteriorated a lot in the Test format. The team has found a substitution of Virat Kohli in the form of Shubman Gill, they have also found a substitution of Rohit Sharma in the form of KL Rahul. But there is still a question, on who will be the proper substitution

It has been a long time since Pujara was last selected in the Indian team. But he served as one of the finest batsmen for the team at the number three position. Since his last game for India, it seems that the team is playing musical chairs for this position in the longest format of the game. Ravi Shastri also called out the Indian management for the same.

1. Ravi Shastri Calls Out Musical Chairs Issue

Ravi Shastri has been the Head Coach of the Indian team, and the team dominated in the Test format with him. In the four years where Shastri was the Head Coach of the Indian team, the team had lost just one Test match at home, continuing its dominance. Now, he just sits in the commentary panel and watches at their own home ground.

Along with that, there is another challenge being faced by the team, which is related to the number three position. It was firmly held by Cheteshwar Pujara for almost a decade, but it has been stumbling over the past few months. Washington Sundar was sent to bat at number three in the first test, and now it was Sai Sudharsan

He said,“No, absolutely not. It makes no sense. I don't understand the thought process there. I mean, when they look back at this series, some of the selections… still trying to figure out the thought process there. For example, you play 4 spinners in Kolkata and bowl one of the spinners for just one over. Ideally, you should have gone in with a specialist batter. Similarly, here, making Washington Sundar bat at 3 in the last Test, but you could have easily made him bat at No. 4 here, now that you have a No. 3. He is no No. 8. He's way better than a number 8.”

2. Sai Sudharsan at Number 3

Currently, the Indian team has given opportunities to Sai Sudharsan at the number three spot. But he has not been able to do his best at this spot yet. Out of all the games he has played for the team at this spot, he has been able to register just two big scores, which makes it questionable for him at this position.

Sai Sudharsan at Number 3:

Innings: 10
Not Out: 0
Runs: 288
Average: 28.80
Strike Rate: 44.92
100s: 0
50s: 2

He also played at this spot in the second Test, after being dropped from the first Test. But Sudharsan failed to score well yet again at this position, and fans wonder who could be coming for the team at this position in the future test matches.

3. Number Three Shuffles

The Indian team has been going through a number of changes for the batsmen at number three. And it has been persisting since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They went on from having Devdutt Padikkal at number three in one game, to even having Shubman Gill, the at this spot.

But one thing has been consistent, which is that no Indian batsmen has been able to deliver consistently at this spot. It can also be said that the majority of the players didn't receive consistent opportunities at this spot, except Sai Sudharsan. With so many switches just for one position, fans wonder who could finally adapt at this spot.