IND vs NZ: Cheteshwar Pujara opines whether Shubman Gill will play the Kanpur Test

The top-two ranked Test teams, New Zealand and India are ready to lock horns in the much-awaited two-match Test series, starting Thursday, November 25.

Both nations recently battled out in the T20I series, where the ‘Men in Blue’ registered a clean sweep by winning all three matches. Notably, the newly appointed T20I skipper Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Shardul Thakur are not part of the Test squad.

With KL Rahul being doubtful for the Test series due to injury, the big question now is who will open the innings. Not to mention, both Rahul and Rohit gave India strong starts in the recent England tour. Notably, BCCI have picked Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill in the squad for the New Zealand Tests.

Ahead of the first Test that will take place in the iconic Green Park in Kanpur, Indian star Cheteshwar Pujara has confirmed that Shubman will be part of the team. Pujara heaped praises on Gill, stating the next-gen star has been playing good cricket since making his debut, and it was a bit unfortunate that he missed out on England tour.

“Can’t reveal that at this stage. But see, he is a talented player, and definitely, he will be part of the team. So someone like him, you know he doesn’t need to worry too much, he has been playing good cricket for a couple of years since he has made his debut. It was unfortunate that he missed out on England, but he is a talented player, and I don’t think personally I will need to tell him much,” Pujara said in a virtual presser ahead of 1st Test.

However, Pujara didn’t say anything concerning Gill’s batting order, whether he would open the innings or bat in the middle-order. Pujara also mentioned that new coach Rahul Dravid would give Gill the best guidance to play the natural game.

“Rahul bhai is there, he will give the best guidance. So I think he will just have to play his natural game. I can’t reveal the position he will bat at, but he is well prepared, and I am sure he is looking forward to this series,” added Pujara.

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