ICC Shares List Of 5 Indian Batters Who Can Replace Cheteshwar Pujara At No 3 In Tests; In Pics

India’s Test squad for West Indies series: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.

ICC thinkgs Jaiswal is an ideal candidate to replace Pujara at No 3 for India in batting order. Jaiswal had a good IPL 2023 season wherein he scored over 600 runs. But that is not the only basis for his selection. Jaiswal also had a solid domestic season. He had scored 213 and 144 while batting at number 3 in the Rest of India vs Madhya Pradesh match in Irani Cup very recently.

The second name that ICC mentioned in their article was of Chennai Super Kings opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. He is a top-order batter for India but the opening slot is not free and the best way to utilise Gaikwad's skills will be to send him at 3.

Shubman Gill still has a long way to go in Test cricket. He has not yet blossomed in this format yet. But there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he won't. Gill can be a terrific No 3 batter. Jaiswal and Gaikwad can open the innings and future with Gill at 3 and this will be some batting order. Even ICC agrees.

Rahane is an experience Indian batter. No 3 is a crucial position in Test cricket. For the meantime, he can be used as India's first drop in Tests. Not to forget, Rahane also has a century against Sri Lanka while batting at No 3 in 2015.

Kohli can be India's last option to try out at No 3. He has not had a great time batting at this spot. It is also unlikely that Kohli leaes the No 4 spot, where he has got so much success. But don't think he will step back if management asks him to bat one spot above just to protect the middle order.