Former England international batsman Kevin Pietersen, who was part of the English team that was the last team to beat India in a red-ball series in 2012, came to the defense of India’s best batsman Shubman Gill after the 24-match. one-year-old failed to make any impact in the first of a five-match Test series against England.

India suffered a 28-run defeat at the hands of Ben Stokes’ team, which initially took a backseat before gaining complete control of the game as the Test match progressed. One of the key reasons behind India’s dramatic defeat was the poor form of No. 3 batsman Shubman Gill, who is going through a rough patch in the sport’s longest format.

Gill posted scores of 23 and 0 in the 2 innings at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium as his left-arm toe-spin problems took great advantage of Tom Hartley, who took him out of the crease on both occasions. In India’s first innings with the bat, Gill played some good shots over covers and towards the leg side, but fell victim to Hartley’s over-the-top pitch and delivered a routine catch to the center fielder inside the circle.

Then in the second innings, Shubman Gill was a mess. While trying to bring down the ball with heavy hands, he mistakenly gave another catch this time to foolish fielder Ollie Pope, who could not have done anything wrong on the 4th when he made a brilliant catch to dismiss the right-hander for a 2-ball Duck.

Immediately after Gill’s departure, the Indian middle order crumbled before collapsing and then a loss was inevitable even if those behind had fought for victory. Tom Hartley posted career-best figures of 7/62 in the fourth innings as India were bundled out for 202.

While many cricket experts have criticized Shubman Gill for not turning up, Kevin Pietersen, who defended him when he got out for 23 in the second innings, once again came to his aid, stating that he will not be dropped for the Vizag Test. and that he is more than capable of staging a comeback.

“I don’t think you can get rid of someone as quickly as in a Test match. He will definitely play in Vizag and let’s take a look and see how he prepares for the upcoming Test. Let’s not leave out Shubman Gill and say he can’t play. He can play. When you talk about feelings, he gives me a feeling of pure joy and delight when he comes out to bat. I want to see him bat,” Pietersen said on Jio Cinema.

“It would bother me…” – Pietersen says Shubman Gill has strong reasons to appear at number 3

Kevin Pietersen went on to state that he is not too worried about the way Shubman Gill came out in the first Test. He also mentioned that even if his average is not convincing enough, Gill has the potential to do well from the number 3 spot and that is why he was trusted for that role in the first place.

“You don’t want to look at them (Gill’s average). There’s a reason he’s batting at No. 3 is because of the type of player he is and what he can do. I’m not too worried about two layoffs. What would worry me is his performance in the second and third tests.” – concluded Pietersen