Rahul Dravid names 'terrific player' who can fill big boots of Pujara in Australia: 'Everyone talks about Pant but...'

Rahul Dravid names 'terrific player' who can fill big boots of Cheteshwar Pujara in Australia

India are set to engage in a high octane five-match Test series against Australia, starting from November 22 in Perth. All five Tests are crucial for the visitors considering it will determine India's chances in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. India were in a strong position to make a third straight appearance in the summit clash, which will be played at Lord's, but a 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand put a dent in India's chance. The outcome saw India slip to the second position in the WTC table and the unit will require a 4-0 win to qualify for the final without depending on other results.

Considering what's at stake and India's squad, which features quite a few rookies, there have been talks about Cheteshwar Pujara, who was one of the architects in India's dominance in Down Under in the previous two tours. Pujara had finished as the leading run-scorer in the 2018-19 series Down Under, which India won 2-1. The red-ball specialist had then accumulated 521 runs from four outings at a staggering average of 74.43. Pujara had then slammed three tons, and one half-century.

IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant fires back at Sunil Gavaskar's assessment, says did not leave DC due to disagreement over money

The second tour, which was played in 2020-21, Pujara failed to replicate a similar show but was the second highest score from the Indian camp. His average dropped to 33.88 as he amassed a total of 271 runs from four matches. However, it was his resistance against the Australian quicks, especially with India constantly losing players due to injury, played a key role in shaping the tour, which India won 2-1. Pujara had then notched three half-centuries.

However, going into the brand new edition India won't have the services of Pujara. So when asked to Rahul Dravid, whom according to him could rise to the occasion, the former India batter and coach named Shubman Gill as the player who can fill the big boots of Pujara.

Also Read | 'Kapil Dev can't be bigger than anyone else': India legend weighs-in on ICC Champions Trophy row

"Well, they've got Shubman Gill, who is a terrific player. He's had some great success in Australia the last time. Everyone talks about Rishabh's 80 [89] and rightly so, but I think Shubman got 91 to set the game up on that fifth morning," Rahul Dravid told ESPNcricinfo. "So no, he's a fine, fine player, he's a great kid, and he's learning. Bats differently, slightly, to me and Pujara, but still a very, very good player," he added.