Ind vs Eng: Shubman Gill needs to better his defence if he wants to succeed in Tests, says Sanjay Manjrekar

Shubman Gill is struggling in Tests. Since the West Indies Tests, he has been batting at No. 3. However, he has had an unimpressive run so far. The right-hander has scores of 13, 18, 6, 10, 29*, 2, 26, 36, 10, 23, 0 in his last 10 innings. On Day 1 of the second Test between India and England, on Friday (Feb 2),Gill departed for 34 (46) to continue his poor run of form.

Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar opened up on Gill's Test struggles prior tothe second Test in Vizag. Talking to ESPN Cricinfo, Manjrekar said, "Shubman Gill, how does he react to his failures? He needs to do something about his defence if he wants to be the prolific run-getter in the team at the Test level, both against swing and spin."

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“That’s a cause for worry and that’s something that won’t be solved easily. These are uncontrollable for the team management, and the selectors,” he further opined.

Manjrekar then shifted focus to Shreyas Iyer, who was also short of runs and fell flat in the first Test versus England in Hyderabad. "Shreyas Iyer seems to want to play the modern way, which is about hitting the way out of trouble, so be it. We saw the English batters take a safer approach to be aggressive."

He added, "He’s got to find one because just lofting balls down the pitch or towards mid-wicket is a lot more risky than playing the reverse sweeps and the switch reverse sweeps."

The Indian team opted to bat first on Day 1 of the Vizag Test on Friday morning. They are eyeing a big score to challenge the English side after losing the first Test in a shocking fashion by 28 runs. While Gill departed early, Iyer will targeta big score to shrug off his poor form.