‘We did think about it’ – Captain Rohit Sharma comes in favour of youngsters ahead of Test match selection against England

Rajat Patidar has been announced as the replacement for Virat Kohli for the upcoming 5-match test series against England. Kohli will miss out on the first two tests and will come back in the third test. The selection of Patidar has sparked some controversies as the selectors went ahead with him rather than the experienced players. However, captain Rohit Sharma, during the pre-match press conference clarified the reason behind Patodar’s selection. The team is aiming to give the youngsters a chance rather than bringing back the experienced players.

Rohit said, “Look, actually, we did think about it. But all these younger players, when are they going to get their opportunity? That’s something we thought, I thought as well. Leaving out an experienced player or not considering them is very hard. The amount of runs they’ve scored, the kind of experience they’ve had, the amount of games they have won for us, you know, it’s very hard to ignore all of that.”

Patidar is in blistering form and has smashed the England Lions in the recent matches. He has scored two centuries, 111 runs and 151 runs, respectively. Apart from this, he also has 12 hundred in first-class cricket. Moreover, he also had good IPL seasons in recent years. Thus, a lot is expected of Patidar and the team will hope to see him perform well in the series.

‘I think Gill is a fine player’ – Rahul Dravid backs Shubman Gill

Head coach Rahul Dravid comes out in support of Shubman Gill and says that he is a young batter and is gaining experience with time. As per the coach, Gill is learning faster and will turn out to be a great player in the future. He has played some amazing knocks for the team and they are expecting him to do the same in the future. The 24-year-old is a hard-working player and puts in a lot of effort before any series.

Dravid in the pre-match press conference said, “I think Gill is a fine player, who is starting out his journey as a cricketer. I mean, sometimes you forget, it takes people a little bit of time at times and some guys, you know have success instantly. Gill is actually, one of those guys who has done really well, you know, in some of his early days, especially in Australia”.