“No point in playing…”: Sourav Ganguly’s direct advice to Gautam Gambhir on India XI vs Australia

Shubman Gill’s thumb fracture is certainly a “blow” for India ahead of the series opener against Australia, but former captain Sourav Ganguly is confident the team has the quality and mental fortitude to overcome the latest shock loss at home in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting in Perth from Friday. Gill, who has five hundreds in 29 Tests, had scored a fifty in Melbourne and a game-setting 91 in Brisbane in the two wins on the previous tour. He sustained a fractured left thumb while playing in the simulation between the senior team and India A, ruling him out of the first Test.

“Shubman’s injury is undoubtedly a blow to the team as he is an in-form batter and has scored in Australia. A broken thumb could rule him out for two Tests.

“But I believe the other batsmen would step up in the absence of Rohit (on paternity leave) and Shubman during the first Test. I don’t think New Zealand’s defeat would have any bearing on this series,” said the former BCCI- president to PTI in an interview ahead of the marquee series.

With Hardik Pandya no longer playing Test cricket, India does not have too many genuine pace bowling all-rounders and while Nitish Kumar Reddy is still very raw, one of India’s best captains feels that the Andhra cricketer should get chances under specific relationship. .

“Look, there’s absolutely no point in playing two specialist spinners either in Perth (Optus) or at the Gabba (Brisbane). You obviously have to find a way to play Reddy in those conditions. He’s a good batsman and comes in at lower middle order, it will give a proper balance to the side,” he gave his rationale for the inclusion of a multi-skilled player.

Ganguly also felt that Mohammed Shami should have traveled to Adelaide and played the second Test starting on December 6, which is a day/night match. Shami is not being tracked immediately by the selectors, who want him to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament before taking a call on his trip Down Under.

“Shami bowled almost 45 overs, bowled more than 100 overs and also scored some runs. It’s a good enough fitness test to be sent to Australia because you need a bowler of his caliber along with Jasprit Bumrah.”

Why are we talking about transition?

Talk of a possible transfer after the shock loss to New Zealand has gained traction, but the 51-year-old finds no merit in that argument.

“Transfers will happen when they have to. I believe that any player should not be judged on the basis of age. Form and fitness should be the only two criteria to judge a player.”

If there are two batsmen Ganguly is looking forward to seeing in the series, it is Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant. “I have full confidence in Virat Kohli. He has been a proven performer and he will have a very good series. Kohli and second-best Test batter in the current line-up Rishabh will be key. If these two can perform, India will have a good series,” he said.

Don’t think the team is “undercooked”

Ganguly also does not think the team is undercooked to face Australia in a five-match series.

“Undercooked is a term used when you haven’t played any Test cricket at all. They’ve just played five Tests in the last seven weeks, so how does the question even arise? I understand the defeat against New Zealand was unexpected, but you have to understand that we played on some extremely difficult pitches In Australia the pitches will be good to bat on,” Ganguly said.

But won’t there be a mental effect of such a debacle going into a high profile game against the Aussies? “I don’t think so. But I have to say we need to get back to playing on good cricket pitches at home.

“We should stop this habit of playing on rank turners. Batsmen lose confidence on such pitches and we have a team that can win Test matches on good pitches.

“Also on turns, you have to learn to grind before you can attack. There are two types of turns where you can’t just punch through the line and get out of trouble. One is a nail turn and the other is a straight turner.”