India had made a solitary change to their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test against Australia. But it was a change that changed the complexion of the order as Shubman Gill sat out with Washington Sundar coming in.
It allowed India to have two spinners in the lineup but most interestingly, Rohit Sharma moved to the top of the batting order and KL Rahul to the No. 3 role.
After five intense days of cricket, Australia clinched the contest in thrilling fashion, winning by 184 runs to take 2-1 lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
With 340 runs to get, India started poorly, losing three wickets before Lunch. Just when they had regained composure, India lost seven wickets in the final session to go down by 184 runs.
In the post-match press conference, India captain Rohit Sharma explained the reasoning behind the Gill change. He stated that the right-handed batter was not dropped but the intention was to have cushion with an extra bowler who could also score runs.
"I had a chat with him there is no way when you're leaving someone out, for whatever reason it is, you will have a chat and the chat was clearly he was not dropped. We just wanted to have that extra bit of cushion in the bowling and hence we opted for an allrounder which would not weaken our batting lineup. Compromising a batter for a bowler was not something that I wanted to do," said Rohit on Monday.
"We wanted to bat as deep as possible and along with that have the same combination to have a bowling attack which can take 20 wickets. So we we considered everything and we ended up compromising him unfortunately. But again look with him there was never a doubt that he was not batting well or he was not scoring runs or anything like that, it was just to get that combination where we can cover both bases - batting and bowling. We opted for that option of course.
"I mean everyone has to understand that because eventually we don't make personal decisions. It is in the best interest of the team, we want to put the team ahead and think about what is the right combination for this particular venue and this opposition. So that's how I plan...sometimes you can see there's been a lot of changes in the team but sometimes (have) you got to make sure that whatever suits the conditions, suits your team and where you can cover all sides, the facets of the game, you make that decision and that's what we do," he added.
Rohit further stressed that they will only take a call on the lineup for the Sydney Test when they get there and assess conditions.
For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the
India vs England Test match here.
Game On Season 1 kicks off with Sakshi Malik’s inspiring story. Watch Episode 1 hereThe TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the ...
Read MoreThe TOI Sports Desk excels in a myriad of roles that capture the essence of live sporting events and deliver compelling content to readers worldwide.
From running live blogs for India and non-India cricket matches to global spectacles featuring Indian talents, like the Chess World Cup final featuring Praggnanandhaa and the Badminton World Championships semifinal featuring HS Prannoy, our live coverage extends to all mega sporting events. We extensively cover events like the Olympics, Asian Games, Cricket World Cups, FIFA World Cups, and more.
The desk is also adept at writing comprehensive match reports and insightful post-match commentary, complemented by stats-based articles that provide an in-depth analysis of player performances and team dynamics.
We track news wires for key stories, conduct exclusive player interviews in both text and video formats, and file content from print editions and reporters. We keep track of all viral stories, trending topics and produce our own copies on the subjects.
We deliver accurate, engaging, and up-to-the-minute sports content, round the clock.
Read Less