Rahul Dravid Accused Of Favoring Shubman Gill And Destroying A Young Indian Batsman's Career

A previous national selector attempted to damage the reputation of the famous Rahul Dravid, who was linked to the Punjabi player from his Under-19 days to becoming one of India's next superstars, after Shubman Gill was named India's Test captain before the England tour.

In a shocking admission, a former selector has charged Rahul Dravid with supporting Shubman Gill's quick ascent at the expense of another talented Indian player.

Dravid has been the NCA Head and India Head Coach

He said that during his time as the NCA chief and India A coach, Rahul Dravid swayed selection decisions to give Gill a head start while depriving Anmolpreet Singh of his rightful chance.

Next month, Gill will make his debut as India's new Test captain during the England tour.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who retired from the game's longest format earlier this month, will not be playing in the youthful brigade's five-match Test series in England, which begins at Headingley on June 20.

Rahul Dravid showed favoritism towards Shubman Gill over Anmolpreet Singh

Rahul Dravid was the coach when Shubman Gill won the 2018 Under-19 World Cup while being captained by Prithvi Shaw.

The renowned cricket player saw Gill's talent and promise right away. Thanks to Dravid, he made his India debut against New Zealand less than a year later.

Anmolpreet Singh had a fantastic domestic season in 2019 and was strongly supported by the national selectors to travel to England with the India A team. However, Dravid stepped in and asked the selectors to choose Gill instead.

The former selector disclosed that as Dravid was both the NCA and India A head coach at the time, they were unable to turn down his request. Dravid, who went on to become the head coach of the Indian cricket team, was correct to see Shubman Gill's potential.

Couldn't turn down Rahul Dravid's request: Ex-Indian selector

After a series against West Indies A and an unforgettable England tour, the right-handed hitter was selected for the 2019 New Zealand ODI tour. He made a spectacular debut on the 2020 Australia trip a year later, and he never looked back.

“Anmolpreet Singh had a great season, and one of the five selectors was bent on putting him on that flight. Anmol had runs in domestic cricket, and his choice would have been justified. Now Rahul (Dravid), who was the NCA head and India A coach, had a request for the selectors,” a former India selector stated.

“Rahul, everyone knows, is polite to a fault. He had just one request for the panel. He said, 'Please select this boy, Shubman Gill, and accommodate Anmol for another A tour.' We couldn't turn down his request, and Shubman, within months of the U-19 World Cup triumph, was in the India A team,” he stated.

However, given that Dravid is a well-known and respected person in the cricket world, this revelation sparked concerns about fairness, partiality, and covert politics in team selection. Notably, after leading India to a historic victory in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, Dravid resigned as head coach.

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