"Ideal position for Karun would be....": Cheteshwar Pujara on Indian top order for England tour

India Gazette

26-05-2025

New Delhi [India], May 26 (ANI): Indian middle-order veteran Cheteshwar Pujara said that he would like to see newly-appointed red-ball captain Shubman Gill continue batting at number three, while a returning Karun Nair could bat at an 'ideal position' of number four.
Pujara was speaking during a media interaction organised by Sony Sports Network, the official broadcaster of the India tour of England, starting from June 20 onwards.
Speaking during the interaction, Pujara said about India's top order that he would like to witness KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal open again after some solid outings in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia.
'I would like to say that if we are talking about the top three, the openers which batted in the Australia BGT series, KL Rahul and Yashashvi, they should continue opening the innings. Now talking about number three, at this stage, we do not know whether Shubman is going to carry on batting at number three, or is he going to drop down to number four.'
'So if Shubman bats at number four, then there is a vacancy at number three, then someone like Abhimanyu Easwaran or Karun Nair could be a good fit at that position. But I would still like to see if Shubman can carry on batting at number three and someone like Karun, who has batted really well in domestic cricket, gets an opportunity to bat at number four, which will be a bit more suitable for him because he is someone, Karun is someone who has not batted at number three in domestic cricket. I am not saying he cannot do it for the test team, but ideal position for Karun would be number four,' he added.
There are media reports that Gill could drop down to number four. At number three so far, he has scored 1,019 runs at an average of 37.74, with three centuries and three fifties. His best score is 119*.
Karun, who asked the sport for a second chance with a heartfelt tweet in December 2022, made the most of the opportunity while representing Vidarbha domestically. The man who is just the second Indian to blaze his way to a triple hundred exhibited quintessential form and has pushed a case for his return to the Indian team since his last Test in 2017. He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in last season's Ranji Trophy with a staggering tally of 863 in nine appearances at 53.93, including four centuries and two fifties.
Easwaran, who has been a domestic cricket stalwart for Bengal, has played 101 first-class games, scoring 7,674 runs at an average of 48.87, 27 centuries and 29 fifties behind him. He did have a disappointing tour to Australia last year as a part of India A team, where he ended up with just 36 runs in four innings. He will be leading India A for their tour of England starting from May 30 onwards.
The series will take place from June to August 2025, with matches at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London). This will be India's first bilateral series since both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirement from Test cricket earlier this month.
India's Test squad for England series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. (ANI)