IND vs WI: Is Shubman Gill struggling at No. 3? This is what experts have to say

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Shubman Gill voluntarily asked for the chance to bat at number three in Test cricket ahead of the West Indies Tests. His request to the management came after Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped following his World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia in June.

The management accepted his request as the same also allowed them to include Yashasvi Jaiswal in the eleven as an opener. Eyes were on Gill to see him bat at the crucial position in the purest form of the game. He demoted himself to the spot after finding success as an opener.

However, his two outings in the position have seen him depart cheaply. In the first Test match, Gill could last only eleven balls and got out for six. While in the first innings of the ongoing second Test, the 23-year-old hit two boundaries during his 12-ball stay before edging a Kemar Roach delivery into the hands of wicket-keeper Joshua Da Silva.

Former India opener Abhinav Mukund has reckoned that Gill is struggling to control his bat speed and his tempo. He has also pointed at a technical error which Gill is committing.

"It's a massive challenge, not only the position. I think Shubman Gill played at No. 3 for his first-class side. But coming off a white-ball season, as a batter, you are trying to control your bat speed. In a T20 format or ODI format, you are going hard at the ball," Abhinav Mukund said on JioCinema on Day 1 of the WI vs IND Test.

"The converse is easier to do. To control the bat speed. I would think Shubman Gill is going after things that he doesn't want to go. That will be the challenge. Shubman Gill is sort of struggling a little bit in controlling his tempo. Unfortunately, he is going forward a bit too much for my liking," Mukund added.

Cricketer-turned-commentator Deep Dasgupta has questioned Gill's temperament to play in the number three position. He reckoned that Gill will have to channel his nerves while batting at three and in the middle-order. He added that Gill's batting style and technique is such that batting early in the innings doesn't suit him.

"There are a lot of batters I know who are not comfortable sitting and sitting with pads on to go in next. There is a lot of nervous energy and everything else and a lot of players are used to batting in the middle-order. By the time they have reached this level, they have found out ways to control that or channel that nervous energy. I don't know whether Gill still has that skillset," Deep Dasgupta told ESPNcricinfo.

"I am not going to talk about his technique as it has brought him success in the past and much more difficult pitches. I think he has to work out a method where he can actually put on his pads and wait if he has to bat in the middle order. I personally still believe that his skillset as a batter is suited in the middle-order at number four or five. Especially at five, he plays spin very well. Maybe that's his position. He needs to look into it. I still don't think his technique or the way he bats is compact enough to be a Test opener," he added.