Leeds [UK], June 18 : India vice-captain Rishabh Pant announced that he will continue to stick to the number five in the upcoming five high-stakes Tests against England, while newly-crowned Test captain Shubman Gill will take stalwart Virat Kohli's number four spot in the format.
After Virat bid adieu to the Test format last month, speculations were heavily revolving around who would take up the mantle of bearing the responsibility of playing at number four, a spot that has been held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
Recent reports placed Gill as the forerunner, and the rumours turned into reality. A couple of days before the series opener at Headingley, Pant confirmed that the 25-year-old will drop from number three and embrace a new role in the red-ball setup.
"I think there is still discussion going on, who's going to play three, but definitely four and five are fixed. I think Shubman is going to bat at number four, and I am going to stick to number five as of now, and the rest, we are going to keep on discussing that," Pant said during a press conference on Wednesday.
While playing at number three, Shubman featured in 17 matches and garnered 1,019 runs at 37.74, with three centuries and as many fifties, all coming on home turf.
In overseas conditions, Gill has featured in seven Tests and managed just 212 runs at 19.27. Besides captaincy, Gill will have to take the legacy of the number four spot to a new level, considering how Virat and Tendulkar made the position their own.
Gill will have some experienced stars around him and Pant serving as his deputy throughout the five Tests. The explosive southpaw believes the camaraderie he shares with Gill off the field and the comfort zone they share will be "really special."
"I think Shubman and I have good camaraderie, especially off the field. If you are good friends off the field, it eventually comes on the field. It is better for cricket always, and that is something I have always believed. Me and him gel really well together. The kind of comfort zone we have with each other, I think that will be really special," he added.
India's squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana
England Playing XI for the 1st Test against India: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.