Who should bat at number four for India in England tests? Ricky Ponting answers

Shubman Gill is the new skipper of India in tests.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels that Shubman Gill should bat at number four for India in tests during the upcoming England tour. The young batter has been named as the new skipper of the Indian Cricket Team following Rohit Sharma’s retirement.

Shubman Gill will have the reins of the Indian Cricket Team in the next ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle. He will start his campaign as captain with the five-match test series against England, slated to commence on June 20. The series will conclude in the first week of August with the fifth test at Kennington Oval in London.

Last month, two crucial members, Sharma and Virat Kohli, announced their retirement from the longest format. While Sharma held the slot of opener, Kohli used to play at the four. Hence, the Indian team will have to find solid batters at these two crucial slots in the upcoming test series.

Ricky Ponting explains why Shubman Gill should bat at No.4 for India

Notably, Gill has played as an opener and at three in the tests. The right-handed batter might pick one of these positions during the England series. However, Ponting believes the skipper should rather bat at four as it will make the captaincy job a bit easier for him.

“I think (Sai) Sudarshan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting as Sudarshan just looks like a class player to me, and technically I think he could do well at Test level. They’ll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone who’s got a bit more experience at No.3”, the former batting legend was quoted as saying by the ICC Review.

“Whether that’s KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair) at No.3, and then Shubman might end up being that No.4 player, which will probably make life for him a little bit easier as a captain as well. Not having to be opening or batting at No.3 as a young captain might make it easier. ” he further added.

Gill showed a wonderful form in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. He finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer in the season with 650 runs. Under his leadership, the Gujarat Titans (GT) reached the playoffs in the tournament.

Meanwhile, the Indian Cricket Team have reached England and will soon begin the preparation for the test series. Some players of the squad are part of the ongoing unofficial test series against England Lions. The visitors also announced their squad for the first test, which will be led by skipper Ben Stokes.

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