5 Players who can replace Virat Kohli at no.4 against Australia in Tests

The Indian cricket team will tour Australia after IPL 2020 ends. This tour will be India’s first international cricket tour since March. Virat Kohli’s men had paid a visit to New Zealand earlier this year, where they blanked the hosts 5-0 in the T20I series. Unfortunately, the Men in Blue could not win a single match after that as the Kiwis whitewashed them in the ODIs and the Tests.

Talking about the Test series, the Indian batsmen have struggled to perform well in the overseas conditions. India’s highest score in the Tests against New Zealand was 242 runs, which solidifies the claim. Still, Virat Kohli’s consistency and some solid performances from the other batsmen helped the Indian team record a historic Test series.

The Indian skipper is expected to lead the team from the front again. But he will miss the last three Test matches to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as the couple is expected its first baby early in January. BCCI has granted Kohli the paternity leave and he will return to India after the first Test in Adelaide. In that case, the team will have to look for the possible replacement for their regular skipper at number 4.

Here are five players who can replace Virat Kohli in the Test line-up:

1. Shubman Gill 

21-year-old Shubman Gill was an integral part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in IPL 2020. The right-handed batsman was the highest run-getter for the 2-time IPL winners. He amassed 440 runs in 14 matches and was one of the most consistent players in the competition this year.

The Punjab-based player has not played much international cricket for India. Despite being a part of the Indian squad in multiple series, Gill has played only two ODIs, scoring 16 runs at a strike rate of 50. The selectors have named him in the Test squad for the Australian tour.

Gill could be a decent replacement for Virat Kohli. The top-order batsman has played 21 first-class matches, where he has aggregated 2,133 runs at an average of 73.55. His highest score of 268 shows that he has the capability to play a marathon knock in the longest format of the game.