Nitish Kumar Reddy attacked as Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma criticized for dropping Shubman Gill in MCG Test

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar is unhappy with India’s team combination for the Melbourne Test against Australia. Manjrekar feels that the decision to drop Shubman Gill did not work well for the team as they lost a specialist batsman.

Although Gill did not play, India opted to play all-rounder com Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar together in the Playing XI. Gill was replaced by Sundar as India’s only change to the Playing XI for the Melbourne Test.

Read also: Sunil Gavaskar exposes Virat Kohli’s technical flaws, blames seniors for India’s MCG Test loss

Sanjay Manjrekar is not happy with the omission of Shubman Gill

During a discussion about India’s combination for the Melbourne Test, Sanjay Manjrekar fired back Rohit Sharma i Gautam Gambhir to opt to play an all-rounder in favor of a specialist batsman. According to him, Shubman Gill could have played well in this field as it suited his style.

“You tried to address the batting uncertainties by getting a bowler who can bat. Nitish Kumar Reddy in the side at the expense of Shubman Gill. So they left out a proper batsman and in hindsight you would think of a pitch like this one, the flattest playing field of the five days so far seriesShubman Gill would have been helpful,” explained Manjrekar.

While Shubman was dropped, India also made some changes to their batting order by moving captain Rohit Sharma to his usual opening position. KL Rahul dropped to No.3 after having a great series as an opening batsman.

Washington Sundar can never be like Shubman Gill – Sanjay Manjrekar

Also, talking about India’s combination, Sanjay Manjrekar claimed that India missed a trick by not playing a top-order batsman like Gill as his replacement Washington Sundar can never be as good a batsman as him .

“Nitish Kumar Reddy did well and luckily that helped. But it’s an approach that never works where Washington Sundar played as a batsman at the end, and he’s never going to be as good as a top-order batsman like Shubman Gill.” he pointed out

India played with three all-round batsmen in their Playing XI and the combination didn’t quite work for them as they struggled for an extra bowling option. Sundar made a vital 50 but didn’t have much to do with the ball.

Nitish Kumar Reddy hits maiden Test Ton

Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar Reddy had a great game with the bat as he hit his maiden Test Ton. It was also Reddy’s first international century and it came in a high-profile game like the Boxing Day Test.

The young all-rounder scored 114 off 189 balls and helped India close in on Australia’s first innings total. Whether India opt to bring back Gill for the final Test in Sydney remains to be seen.

India will be looking to strengthen their batting order after a disappointing performance in Melbourne. Gill has had an ordinary Test series so far with 60 runs in two Tests at an average of 20 while batting at No. 3. He had earlier missed the first Test in Perth due to injury.