“See, the game plan is simple here. You can’t survive on this pitch with defence” – Harbhajan Singh backs Shubman Gill despite giving his wicket cheaply in the second innings

For the third Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India’s second innings started out horribly on Day 2. In their first innings, the Indian team was bowled out for 109. By the conclusion of Day 1, Australia was in a very good position (156/4). Just 41 runs were scored by the visitors in the morning session, giving the home team a commanding 88-run advantage, prompting the return of Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav.

India in the second innings could only have a 75 runs lead. They lost four wickets in the process. Both openers, Rohit and Shubman Gill, had been undefeated up until Lunch, but then Gill gave up his wicket cheaply to Nathan Lyon in the afternoon. The teenager, who came in for KL Rahul, managed only 5 runs off 15 balls in the second innings.

Gill had showed some promise in India’s first innings, hitting 21 runs. The cricketer received backlash on social media after being dismissed in the second innings. Despite the criticism, veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh has stood by the 23-year-old. Harbhajan said that playing on such a surface necessitates an offensive mindset rather than a defensive one.

What did Harbhajan Singh say about Shubman Gill?

“See, the game plan is simple here. You can’t survive on this pitch with defence. Pujara was using his feet throughout his innings. If you’re thinking that you can wait out for a spell and score runs later, it won’t work. Even if you’re playing on 70-80 on this pitch, you can get out with just one odd delivery,” Harbhajan said.

“You have to look out for the opportunity to score runs. You need to see where you can get a four. Shubman wanted to go for a six, and when you consider the pitch condition here, his approach was right because you can’t defend on this pitch for long,” he added.