So, we should keep some guy who scores 11 in all his innings. That would be stupid. Gill has contributed the least among all our batsmen. If you score a century and then 5 11's you are not a great batter. We would possibly had not won the last test without his contribution - that is true. However, how many tests have we lost because of his lacklustre performance abroad and also in India? We need to demand better than someone scoring 32 runs/innings. Gill also was almost out two times and was totally out of control at the beginning of that innings. He must be congratulated for his century. But, he has failed and caused defeats time and again for us. One win with a contribution does not absolve that. Or a few wins, if you consider his purple path in Australia. If you play with five batsmen and they turn up once in 10 tests to score a century, you are going to be a bad team. Same is the case with Rahul although he is not as bad as Gill. Iyer performed better than both of these and got kicked out because he does not have heavyweight backers. Nepotism is never good for a side.
It is only surprising if it comes from people who look at the last test and go up and down with it. Most serious fans look at a longer stretch. And, Gill has been horrible for long. Given that he is using up so many chances and is the architect of more losses than wins, he better score a few more centuries in this series. The English bowling has holes. Bashir looked very ordinary. Hartley and Ahmed looked good. We need to attack that weak link. Or Root as the fifth bowler. Or whoever is bowling badly that day.
