“Shubman Gill missed a chance to earn the respect” - Mohammad Kaif slams Indian skipper for not backing Karun Nair

Former Indian cricketer and analyst Mohammad Kaif took to X to opine that the newly appointed Indian Test captain, Shubman Gill, had the chance to back the under-performing Karun Nair for the fourth Test in Manchester by giving one more chance.

However, Kaif added that Gill missed the chance of earning respect by dropping Nair, who could score only 131 runs from six innings so far in the ongoing England series at an average of under 22. His scores in the series read - 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14.

“Today was Shubman Gill’s chance to back Karun who was down but deserved one more chance. He should have picked Karun Nair. Chance missed to earn the respect when it comes to making tough decisions as a leader,” Kaif posted on X.

Here is the tweet: https://x.com/MohammadKaif/status/1947977363763146853

It’s important to note that Nair made his Test comeback after the gap of eight years. Though he was slotted down the order at No.6 in the Leeds Test, he was later promoted to the No.3 position, replacing Sai Sudharsan.

However, on Wednesday, Gill decided to bring in Sai Sudharsan for Karun Nair at No.3 alongside Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj coming in for Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep respectively. 

“I was actually confused. Good toss to lose. The way we’ve played in the last three Tests has been outstanding. Some crunch moments we’ve lost, but we’ve won more sessions than them. You need a bit of a break. All three Tests were intense. Looks like a good surface. Nice and hard. There’s some forecast (for rain) around for the four-five days. Three changes: Sai Sudharsan comes in place of Karun. Kamboj and Shardul are in as well for Akash Deep and Reddy who are injured,” Shubman Gill said at the toss.

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