Rohit says freedom the key for India duo Jaiswal and Gill

Rohit Sharma believes India batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill will benefit from being granted freedom after enduring difficult starts to their tour of Australia.

The five-match red-ball series between Australia and India is finely poised at 1-1 ahead of the fourth Test beginning on Boxing Day, with the tourists being trounced in the second Test before the third contest was drawn.

Neither Jaiswal nor Gill have impressed in the last two Tests. The former smashed 161 in the second innings of the series opener, but has only managed 32 runs through four innings since then.

Gill, meanwhile, missed the first Test and has not topped 31 runs in any of his four innings at the crease on this tour.

Ahead of the fourth Test, skipper Rohit promised India would avoid overcomplicating things for the pair at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"When you have a guy like [Jaiswal] in your squad, in your team, you don't want to tamper too much with his mindset," Rohit said.

"Let him be as free as possible and not overburdened with too many thoughts regarding his batting. He understands his batting more than any one of us, you know.

"Talking about Gill, I mean, look, he is quality, we all know that. It's just about backing that quality and making sure we give clear messaging to him and, again, like Jaiswal, we don't want to complicate too many things with him.

"So he knows how to score big runs. It's just making sure that when you get those 30s, 40s, you try and get on to a big one.

"Because getting in here is the toughest part. When you get in, that is when you cannot leave that opportunity of scoring those big runs."

?? Jasprit Bumrah's confidence in his skillset, clarity of thought, and simple approach make it very easy for me.#TeamIndia captain Rohit Sharma shares his thoughts on captaining Jasprit Bumrah and his impact in the series so far. #AUSvIND | @ImRo45 | @Jaspritbumrah93 pic.twitter.com/WiXulJhqlj

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 24, 2024