India captain Shubman Gill will bat at No. 4 during the first Test against England starting Friday, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant confirmed on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference, Pant said, “There is still discussion going on about who will play at No. 3, but No. 4 and No. 5 are fixed,” Pant told reporters. “Shubman is going to bat at No. 4 and I will stay at No. 5 as of now. The rest will be discussed.”
The No. 4 position was previously held by Virat Kohli, who retired from Test cricket in May. His departure, along with Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format, has left India in the process of rebuilding its red-ball batting lineup.
This will be India’s first Test match since the retirement of both senior batters. Gill began his career as an opener but moved to No. 3 last year to accommodate Yashasvi Jaiswal. His further shift to No. 4 is expected to add strength to the middle order.
Team India's squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
