Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain highlighted that the number three spot in Test cricket no longer belongs to specialists. He cited examples of Shubman Gill and Joe Root to explain that players these days prefer the number four spot.
Indiaโs Test captain Shubman Gill began his red-ball career as an opener, but with Cheteshwar Pujara out of contention, he was moved to number three. Following Virat Kohliโs retirement from Tests, the 25-year-old shifted to number four, a position where he truly came into his own. Gill made an immediate impact, amassing 752 runs in his debut series at number four in England. Similarly, Joe Root, who played 34 Tests at number three, found greater success at number four, where he scored the bulk of his career runs.
Reflecting on that, former cricketer Nasser Hussain stated that the number three spot in Test cricket used to be a specialist position, but over the years it has changed. He noted that the old school batters are no longer available, and Pujara was the last one among them. He hailed the former India cricketer, calling out for his immense contribution in protecting the middle order and particularly Virat Kohli, who gained significantly from his presence.
โA real old-school No. 3. And he had to take over from one of the all-time great No. 3s in Rahul Dravid. It’s something that’s a little bit lacking in international cricket-No. 3s. Even on the England side, Joe Root doesn’t want to do it. Shubman Gill doesn’t want to do it for India since he has the captaincy. He wants to bat at 4,โ Hussain said on the Sky Sports YouTube channel.
Pujara did it as well as anyone: Hussain
โIn our era, your No. 3 was your best player, whether it be Viv Richards, Ricky Ponting, or Rahul Dravid. Not an easy position to do, but Pujara did it as well as anyone. Another one of the old-school batters is gone. A bat-for-your-life and over-my-dead-body sort of batter that played the ball late and produced some great innings, especially in Australia. He was loved by Indian fans for playing like that. And he protected the middle order, with the likes of Kohli in there, from the new ball. Working with him, he’s exactly how he was when he batted-very calm, quietly spoken, and talks a lot of sense,โ he added.