Last Updated on 2 months by Charbel Coorey
Stuart Broad has caused a stir on social media after picking his combined England-India XI after an engrossing five-match series. Broad left Shubman Gill out citing there was no room for the India captain as he and Joe Root batted at four.
For reference, here is Broad’s combined XI: 1. Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2. KL Rahul, 3. Ollie Pope, 4. Joe Root, 5. Harry Brook, 6. Ben Stokes (c), 7. Rishabh Pant (wk), 8. Washington Sundar, 9. Jofra Archer, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mohammed Siraj
“Your take wouldn’t be answering the question asked to me. Number 4, Root or Gill. Root is a better player. The choice wasn’t between Pope or Gill. Obviously Gill deserves to be in. Just not in place of Root,” wrote Broad in reply to a post.
Stuart Broad leaves Shubman Gill out of combined England-India XI
Gill had the series of his life. He hit the most runs in the series (754), 217 more than the next best, Joe Root, who struck 537.
Along the way, Gill broke numerous records, including the most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series. He went past the great Sunil Gavaskar, who struck 732 runs against West Indies in 1978. Gill’s tally is only behind Don Bradman’s 810 achieved against England in 1935.
His exclusion, as well as Ravindra Jadeja’s, did not sit well with Indian fans, especially given Ollie Pope was picked despite a very quiet series after his hundred at Headingley. Broad said that because he could only pick one of Gill or Root, Pope was left as the option for number three. However, fans pointed out that Rishabh Pant, who bats at five, was listed at seven in Broad’s team.
