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Rishabh Pant confirmed Shubman Gill's batting position in the upcoming Test series against England. The No. 3 spot is still under discussion, with Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan being the top contenders.
Team India vice-captain and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has confirmed the team’s batting line-up, including that of Shubman Gill’s position, ahead of the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley in Leeds on Friday, June 20.
Team India will begin their new era in Test cricket following the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin. Rohit and Kohli retired from the longest format of the game before the squad announcement for the England tour, while Ashwin stepped away from international cricket midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Since Rohit Sharma quit the Test format, Shubman Gill has been tasked with the responsibility of leading Team India in red-ball cricket, with Rishabh Pant as his deputy.
However, the biggest headache for the BCCI selectors and Team India management was to fill the batting void left by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Rohit was an opener, and Kohli played at No.4 before they called time on his career.
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Shubman Gill to succeed Virat Kohli at No.4
Speaking at the press conference ahead of the first Test against England in Leeds, Rishabh Pant confirmed Shubman Gill will take Virat Kohli’s No.4 batting position, while he will stick to his No.5 spot. However, Team India’s new vice-captain stated that the remaining batting line-up, especially openers, No.3, and the middle order, is still in discussion.
“I think there is still discussion going on, who’s going to play at No. 3, but definitely 4 and 5 are fixed. I think Shubman is going to bat at No. 4 and I’m going to stick to No. 5 as of now, and the rest, we’re going to keep on discussing about that,” Pant told reporters.
Earlier, it was reported that Shubman Gill would take up the No.4 spot left by Virat Kohli, moving down from his usual No.3 batting position. After the BCCI selectors moved on from Cheteshwar Pujara, the No.3 spot was given to Gill during the previous Test assignments. Now, with Kohli’s departure, the team management decided to give No.4 batting responsibility to the newly appointed Test captain.
Shubman Gill had a good record at No.3, having amassed 1019 runs, including 3 centuries and as many fifties, at an average of 37.74 in 30 innings.
Who will take the No.3 batting position?
The No.3 position in the batting line-up is still in discussion, as confirmed by Rishabh Pant, with several contenders likely to be assessed before taking a call. However, the toss-up is likely to be between Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan, who are strong contenders for one of the crucial batting positions.
Karun Nair, who made his comeback to Team India after a gap of eight years, played at No.3 spot in the recently concluded India A’s two unofficial Tests against England Lions, where he scored a double century in the first match at Canterbury and overall aggregated 259 runs at an average of 86.33 in three innings. In the Ranji Trophy, Nair played in the middle-order for Vidarbha and amassed 863 runs, including 4 centuries and 2 fifties, at an average of 53.93 in nine matches.
Nair has the experience of playing in the County Championship for Northamptonshire and scored 736 runs at an average of 56.61 across two seasons. Last season, Nair was quite impressive as he amassed 487 runs, including a double century against Glamorgan, at an average of 48 in 11 innings.
Sai Sudharsan, on the other hand, received his maiden Test call-up and is expected to make his red-ball debut in the upcoming first Test against England. The southpaw was in impressive form in the IPL 2025 for the Gujarat Titans and earned the Orange Cap for being the highest run-getter of the season, amassing 759 runs in 15 matches.
Just like Karun Nair, Sudharsan too played in the County Championship last season, plying his trade for Surrey and amassed 281 runs, including a century and a fifty, at an average of 35.13 in 8 innings.
