Gill and Surya to compete for Iyer's slot

New Delhi: The Indian team management may consider playing Shubman Gill in the middle order ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in the first Test against Australia after Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series opener due to a back injury.

Iyer, who could not recover from back spasms, will certainly open one spot in India's batting order and it will be a choice between Surya, a career middle-order batsman who has the X-factor, and Gill, who has mostly opened for the national team in Tests.

Iyer, who has been a consistent performer in his short Test career, was India's standout batsman in the 0-0 series win over Bangladesh in February. "When New Zealand came to India later in the year, Shubman Gill was being considered for the middle order as KL Rahul was supposed to open with Mayank Agarwal. Then Rahul got injured and Gill opened. Then he got injured again. He was being considered for the red-ball middle order," a BCCI source familiar with the development told PTI. With captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Rahul being the team's first-choice openers, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli at number two and number three respectively, the number three slot becomes crucial in the Indian context as that individual is expected to play the number three new ball.

In Gill's case, being a Test regular and originally starting his red-ball career as a middle-order batsman certainly helps his case.

"When Rahul Dravid was deployed to India A, Gill played in the middle order on the West Indies A tour and won a double hundred in one of the Tests. To be fair, he was originally a middle-order batsman and was converted into an opener," said the former national selector.

In Surya's case, his dominance over spinners on wickets that offer turn is the key factor.

"If Nathan Lyon gets a big off break, SKY can dismantle him with his footwork. But against Cummins, Hazlewood, Gill could be a better bet," he added. Iyer, who missed the limited-overs home series against New Zealand, is yet to fully recover from a back injury and remains at the National Cricket Academy for rehabilitation.