Mumbai: Former Indian captain and ‘little master’ Sunil Gavaskar has come out in support of Gautam Gambhir and backed him to perform well against the Black Caps. India will be taking on New Zealand in the third Test match at Indore, Madhya Pradesh starting on Saturday. Gambhir replaces the incumbent openers KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan, who have been ruled out due to hamstring and finger injuries respectively.
Gambhir last played for India in 2014 against England at the Oval. The Delhi dasher has been performing well as the skipper of his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders and last played on home turf against three lions in late 2012 and India lost that series.
“Gambhir is a specialist opener and deserves to get another chance to play Tests. He has worked hard for it and even went to Justin Langer in Australia to improve his batting,” Gavaskar told NDTV in an exclusive interview on Friday.
Gambhir was in good touch during the recent Duleep Trophy. He scored 356 runs in five innings and scored four fifties for champions India Blue.
“He (Gautam Gambhir) is our third opener and his place in the team for the third Test is a natural progression,” said skipper Virat Kohli in his pre-match chat with reporters in Indore on Friday.
The backing received by the legend could do wonders for Gambhir. India has a long home season ahead and if Gambhir grabs his chance then the competition for the opening slot will be fierce and it will be very good for Indian cricket in the long run.
India have suffered injury setbacks but the bench strength is quite good and up to international standards. The men in blue last lost a home Test against England at Nagpur in 2012 and since then have beaten Australia (4-0), West Indies (2-0) and South Africa (3-0).