'No one is given that luxury' - Former India opener's staggering remark on Shubman Gill's rare No. 3 request

Team India are in the driving seat at the end of Day 1’s play in Dominica in the first Test against West Indies. After the hosts elected to bat first, Indian bowlers managed to restrict them to 150. Ravichandran Ashwin completed his 33^rd five-wicket haul in Test Cricket. At the same time, his spin twin Ravindra Jadeja picked up three. The rest two wickets were cleaned up by Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.

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In reply, India started in fine form and have already accumulated 80 runs in 23 overs before the end of the Day’s play. Yashasvi Jaiswal who was asked to open the innings with skipper Rohit Sharma is nearing his half-century on debut. He is currently batting at 40* off 73 balls. At the same time, the skipper is batting at 30* off 65 balls. Given that Jaiswal has taken up the opener’s role, Shubman Gill will be shifting to the number 3 role. As per reports, that is a change the 23-year-old requested himself. Former India opener, Aakash Chopra, however, had strong views on it.

‘Don't see a player telling team management that he likes to bat in a particular position’ – Aakash Chopra

“Shubman Gill told the team management that he wanted to play at no.3. It's a very interesting thing because you don't usually hear such things happening in Indian cricket. You don't see a player telling team management that he likes to bat in a particular position. Neither does anyone make that request, nor anyone is given that luxury. But the good thing is Yashasvi Jaiswal can now open,” Chopra said on his official YouTube channel.

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“But in Test cricket, if there's one difficult job, it's that of an opener. Especially away from home. No.3 is still a challenging spot, but no.4 is the most settled spot and you usually keep your best batter in that spot. You don't want him to bat with the tail. Shubman at no.3, I'm not surprised. I tweeted in 2020 that he would play long for India but in a few years' time, you would see him batting in the middle. Now, he has himself expressed that wish,” he added.