EVEN as chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced the 18-member squad for the five-Test series in England and answered several questions on Saturday, there were a few that he had left to the newly named captain Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir to decide. And it was understandable. There was no reason why Agarkar or India had to spell out their batting order three weeks before the first Test in Leeds.
One of the questions was about who will bat at No 4. In many ways, it has been a legacy position of sorts for Indian cricket. And with good reason. From the time Sachin Tendulkar walked out at No 4 against Australia during his maiden tour Down Under in 1992, the position has predominantly been held by two people. First it was Tendulkar and then, former India captain Virat Kohli. Unless there were tactical calls or injuries or exigent circumstances, by and large, the aforementioned duo had made the position their own, carrying forward the legacy.
Which is why, at this point, the majority opening, seems to be the case of Gill dropping himself down to No 4 with B Sai Sudharsan or Abhimanyu Easwaran coming in at No 3. And it makes sense considering Gill batted a fair bit in the middle-order before becoming a Test opener for India. It would allow him to come at a time when the sideways movement has reduced and also lead from the front with the bat by holding the batting line-up together.
While the discussions and debates will continue at least until the intra-squad game which might give an indication, the bottomline will be about just one thing. Where does Gill wants to bat? He is perhaps one of the few youngsters who very early in his career asked for a specific spot and got it. Historically, most non-opening batters would start at No 6 and slowly move their way up. This applied for the likes of Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Gill's predecessor at No 3, Cheteshwar Pujara.
The veteran batter, who occupied the No 3 slot since Rahul Dravid retired in 2012 till the 2023 World Test Championship final, feels if Gill drops down to No 4, Easwaran or comeback man Karun Nair could be at No 3. "At this stage, we don't know whether Shubman is going to carry on batting at No 3, or is he going to drop down to No 4. If Shubman bats at No 4, then there's a vacancy at No 3, then someone like Abhimanyu or Karun Nair could be a good fit at that position," Pujara said in an interaction organised by Sony Sports network, the official broadcaster of India tour of England.
In saying that, the 37-year-old felt Gill could carry on at No 3 while Karun might take up the No 4 spot. "I would still like to see if Shubman can carry on batting at No 3 and someone like Karun, who has batted really well in domestic cricket, gets an opportunity to bat at No 4, which will be a bit more suitable for him. Karun is someone who hasn't batted at number three in domestic cricket. I'm not saying he can't do it for the Test team, but the ideal position for Karun would be No 4," said Pujara.
"It's a young team. It will be difficult to name a player at No 3 or 4 from now on. Because we don't even know the batting order yet. We'll have to wait for a series or two to figure out who the batters are at No 3/4," he added.
That is a word of caution Agarkar reiterated as well. That this is a young team with a young captain who will have their shares of ups and downs before the core group for the coming decade is formed. The first step towards it would begin in Leeds on June 20.
