IND vs AUS: Time has come for Shubman Gill to replace KL Rahul - Aakash Chopra ahead of 3rd Test

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Ahead of the third Test between India and Australia from Tuesday, March 1, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra has reckoned that out-of-form opener KL Rahul would be dropped and replaced by Shubman Gill.

The former India opener, who recently got into a Twitter war of words with Venkatesh Prasad over Rahul, suggested that captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid have backed Rahul for his talent and they want him to do well. He went on to add that the Karnataka batter's sacking from Test captaincy role made it clear that he could be dropped in the upcoming Tests. Chopra also praised Gill for his brilliant form and wished him luck in advance for the third Test in Indore.

"For the eleventh member, it can be Shubman Gill, because we have to mention his brilliant form in Test matches. He has also made runs against Bangladesh in those matches. When the announcements came KL Rahul has been removed from the Test Vice Captain position, which is basically telling the world that since you are not the vice-captain, you can be dropped, so there might be a change in that part. Although Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma both have backed up Rahul’s talent, Rohit also found himself in that position where he was backed up by the team in 2012 or something, and now we know how well he has played since then. So, they want to invest that much in Rahul as well, but the time has come that Rahul won't be part of the team and Shubman Gill will replace him, as I think, so I wish Shubman Gill well. It is a good time to score runs if we look at it from the Indian perspective," Chopra said while hosting JioCinema’s daily sports show '#AakashVani’.

IND vs AUS: Many subplots in third Test - Aakash Chopra

Referring to India playing without a vice-captain and Australia taking the field without their regular captain Steve Smith, the 45-year-old said that there were "many subplots" in the third Test. Notably, Cummins went back to Australia after the Delhi Test to visit her mother who is suffering from breast cancer. He also predicted India's XI for the Holkar Test match.

“There are many subplots in the 3rd Test match of India vs. Australia in the Border Gavaskar Trophy because there is no vice-captain in our team and Australia doesn’t have any captain in their team. For Australia, Pat Cummins hasn’t returned yet, so Steve Smith is going to lead the team in his absence. The probable eleven will be Rohit Sharma, Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami."

India have beaten Australia in the first two Test matches in Nagpur and Delhi and are leading the series 2-0. A win in Indore will see them qualify for the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23.