'Use kya khelana chahiye tha' - Shubman Gill's shocking omission from second BGT Test invites angry reactions from fans

Shubman Gill (image source: Twitter)

India once again omitted their in-form batter Shubman Gill for the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. After losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, Indian captain Rohit Sharma indicated that there are no changes to their top order. It means that the youngster has paved the way for vice-captain KL Rahul despite his poor form.

India made only one change to their playing 11 in the second Test as Shreyas Iyer returned to the side after injury. The middle-order batter replaced Suryakumar Yadav, who had a poor debut in the last match. Meanwhile, the hosts kept faith in new wicketkeeper-batsman Srikar Bharat. During the toss, the skipper also expressed his and his teammates' excitement for Cheteshwar Pujara, as India's star batter is playing his 100th Test.

“We’d have batted first as well. The pitch is dry, but I think the application we showed last game put the toss away from the game. You just have to come out and play good cricket, and that’s been the chat in the group to not worry about the toss. (On Pujara’s 100th Test) We are all thrilled for him, his family is here as well. 100 Test matches isn’t easy, there have been plenty of ups and downs in his career. One change for us – Shreyas Iyer is in for Surya,” said Rohit Sharma during the toss.

Crucial for India's vice-captain

With five centuries, Gill has scored loads of runs across all three formats in the last couple of months. Having scored just 20 runs in the first Test against Australia, the second Test will be crucial for vice-captain Rahul to prove to his critics why he is in the team for the longer format.

Rohit and Co. are currently leading the series 1-0 thanks to the captain's century and heroic performances by Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the Nagpur Test. With the Aussies hoping for a comeback in the second Test, a win is crucial for India as they look to secure their place in the World Test Championship final.

This is how fans reacted after Shubman Gill was left out of the playing XI in the second Test:

What it takes for BCCI and Team India to DROP fraud KL Rahul ?

Why can’t we have Shubman Gill?#BGT2023 #KLRahul #IndVsAus2023 pic.twitter.com/gIRrJIJerF

— Sagar (@sagar_ksg) February 17, 2023

Why are they giving chances repeatedly to KL Rahul?, despite he is failing in every match, they could have given chance to inform Shubman Gill

— Dr.Amith karthik (ಡಾ.ಅಮಿತ್‌ ಕಾತಿ೯ಕ್‌) (@amith_karthik) February 17, 2023

For everyone miffed with @klrahul's selection, just tolerate him for one more game. It's his last red ball game (if he fails to make this one count). Even a 40-50 won't save him. @ShubmanGill can't be kept out any longer. #BGT2023 #INDvAUS #KLRahul

— Neeraj Sahu (@NRJtheBoss) February 17, 2023

I just dont understand this love tale between @BCCI and @klrahul. Does he really deserve these many chances given the hugely talented bench strength India has? @ShubmanGill deserved a go here. #INDvAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy @DrNaumanNiaz @iRashidLatif68 @Vjshahzadkhan

— Dr Zeeshan Ahmer (@Dr_ZeshAhmer) February 17, 2023

How can @BCCI play @klrahul over @ShubmanGill ? Are we seriously going to let a "once in 10 games" player get preference over someone in red hot form?

— Bird Lawyer (@BirdLawyer90) February 17, 2023

Everyone coming to Twitter to protest after seeing again fraud KL Rahul included in playing XI instead of inform Shubman Gill 👈🏻#IndVsAus2023 #INDvsAUSTest #Delhi pic.twitter.com/yu0snfcUqW

— Sagar (@sagar_ksg) February 17, 2023

@ShubmanGill ko kya khelana chahiye tha #askstar @StarSportsIndia

— Rocky Upadhyay (@upadhyayrocky28) February 17, 2023

So we are again playing world’s best batsman Kl Rahul @WasimJaffer14 and not Shubhman Gill. We will never learn

— Ritika Arora (@Ritika9189) February 17, 2023