Michael Vaughan prefers KL Rahul over Shubman Gill for World Test Championship Final

Michael Vaughan, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill (Photo Source: Twitter)

Despite being in terrific form with the bat in the last few months, former England skipper Michael Vaughan stated that KL Rahul should be preferred ahead of Shubman Gill in the World Test Championship finale. Notably, the Lucknow Super Giants skipper was dropped from the playing XI in the final two matches of the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy and ever since his future in Test cricket looked gloomy. However, Vaughan mentioned that Rahul looks more comfortable against the moving deliveries and thus, he should get the nod ahead of Gill.

The 48-year-old also advised that India should forget about the history as the final against Australia is just a one-off battle. He went on to add that Gill still has a few technical deficiencies that he needs to work on and thus, Rahul is a clear-cut choice for him. Furthermore, he also discussed Gill’s hand technique which moves more towards the seaming ball which increases the chances of him snicking one to the slip cordons more often than not.

“The only change that they could make in English conditions is that KL Rahul plays the moving ball better than Shubman Gill. Shubman’s a tremendous young player, but you’ve got to win that one game of cricket. Forget history; it’s about picking the best XI to win the World Test Championship. When it’s straight, Shubman is a dangerous player, but I’ve seen a few little technical deficiencies. When the ball moves, he takes his hand a little bit too much towards the ball.”

You’ve got to pick the team for that one game of cricket: Vaughan

Albeit, the former England skipper seemingly pointed out about playing that one all-important game rather than thinking in the long term regarding the qualities of a player. Moreover, he doubts if Gill’s place will be tinkered with Rahul and it is solely up to the team think tank to take the final decision for the playing XI for the grand final. 

“He snicks off quite consistently. I’m not sure they will do that (replace Shubman with KL Rahul) because I’m not in the selection room. (But) don’t pick a team based on what’s next or who’s going to play in the West Indies; you’ve got to pick the team for that one game of cricket,” Vaughan said while talking to Cricbuzz.

When it comes down to numbers, Rahul has played some good cricket in English conditions. In nine Test matches so far, the opener has hit 614 runs at an average of 34.11. When it comes to Gill, the youngster played two matches in England, scoring 57 runs in the process.