Curse of No. 3? Rahul Dravid & VVS Laxman thrived where Shubman Gill seems to be struggling

Shubman Gill took the No. 3 batting slot in July 2023, replacing Cheteshwar Pujara. (Photo via X)

Until the tour of the Caribbean last July, Shubman Gill had batted at No. 3 in only one of his first 30 Test innings – in the second knock against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in December 2021 when he made 47. In those 16 Tests and 29 innings as opener, he had made 874 runs at 32.37, with two hundreds and four half-centuries.

Since successfully asking to drop down to the one-down position in the West Indies, Gill has had the most modest numbers – 176 runs in 10 innings, an average of under 20, a highest of 36. That has dragged his career average across 22-and-a-half Tests to 29.64 and perhaps placed a giant-sized question mark against his immediate Test future.

I hated batting at No. 3. Either you open the batting or wait a little and bat at No. 5 or 6. Since I started opening, from No. 3 onwards till No. 7, I don’t think it is the right position for anyone!

- Rohit Sharma

Then came the drop to No. 3 in Tests, and things haven’t gone swimmingly at all, particularly in the five-day game, for the stylist from Punjab.

One isn’t sure why Gill wasn’t keen to continue as Test opener. But when he approached the think-tank asking to be considered to fill the one-drop slot lying vacant following the axing of Cheteshwar Pujara, the management group of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid didn’t think twice before acquiescing to his request. After all, that would also enable them to blood Yashasvi Jaiswal, the left-hander, at the top of the batting tree alongside Rohit.

Jaiswal has grabbed his opportunities with both hands. He slammed 171 on debut, then topped it with an unbeaten 179 on day one of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Friday, a day when Gill looked set for a big one while breezing to 34 before nicking James Anderson behind the stumps.

Pressures of the one-down slot: From Rahul Dravid to Shubman Gill

Batsmen don’t always relish batting out of position. Once he had established himself in the Test side, Rahul Dravid was loath especially to open the batting, though he did oblige uncomplainingly when the need arose, all the while when he was deputy to Sourav Ganguly, when he took over the captaincy and even later when Anil Kumble was in charge. Sometimes, the difference between opening the batting and walking out at No. 3 can be just one delivery, but Dravid has spoken in the past of how, while it might be just one delivery to the others, it made a huge difference to him.

V.V.S. Laxman, Dravid’s ally in two Test triple-century stands, became Hyderabad’s fulcrum at No. 3 in domestic cricket very early in his career and began his stint with the national team in the middle order, but when he was asked to open the batting from the tour of the Caribbean in 1997, he gave it a game go. His first Test century, a blazing 167 in Sydney in January 2000, came as an opener but when he was dropped one Test later – with the tag of part-time opener affixed to him – he informed the national selectors that he didn’t wish to be considered for the opening position ever again. Laxman told this writer that he had stopped enjoying his batting at that stage, that he would rather bat at No. 3 for Hyderabad and sleep contentedly in that bed than be jettisoned at the drop of a hat by the national selectors when he failed in one or two innings as an India opener.

Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, had no issues moving up the order from No. 6 to become one of the most successful Test openers of all time. A century on Test debut in Bloemfontein in 2001 should have sealed his middle-order slot but with Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly in the mix, he had to either open or watch from the sidelines. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Sehwag happily made the switch to opener, scored a hundred in his second Test in that role, and ended his career as one of only four batsmen with two triple-hundreds in Test cricket – he also boasted another score of 293. Sehwag redefined the approach to opening the batting, often cracking games open with his electric stroke-making. He might have been an accidental opener, but his success was anything but an accident.

Also enjoying a fresh lease of life at the top of the order is Rohit Sharma. The current India captain’s Test career appeared to be heading nowhere when Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri promoted him to the top in 2019, like Mahendra Singh Dhoni had done in white-ball cricket in 2013. Rohit responded with twin hundreds in his first game as opener, against South Africa in Visakhapatnam, and hasn’t looked back since. Last month in Cape Town, he said, “I hated batting at No. 3. Either you open the batting or wait a little and bat at No. 5 or 6. Since I started opening, from No. 3 onwards till No. 7, I don’t think it is the right position for anyone!”

More recently, former Australian skipper Steve Smith has stepped into the giant breach created by the retirement of long-standing opener David Warner, even if he had no need to do so because Smith is already regarded as one of Australia’s greatest batsmen of all time and his place in the middle order was under no threat.

Gill might now be second-guessing if he did himself a good turn by wishing to bat at No. 3. After all, there is a reason why they say be careful what you wish for, for it might come true. Despite his string of low scores, he might yet benefit from the philosophy of a brains’ trust that places great onus on constancy and quality of opportunity, but he must start pulling his weight and repaying the faith, and soon enough. Otherwise, he will face a stint on the sidelines, if only temporarily.