One of India’s biggest concerns heading into the series against Australia has been assigning the No. 3 role. Shubman Gill did prove his worth in 2024, where he scored three centuries in three different series, batting at No. 3. However, the young batter was ruled out of the opening contest in Perth after he injured his thumb during the intra-squad match at the WACA last week.

Speaking in the Star Sports Press room, Shastri was asked who could hence replace Pujara in Perth, and the India legend minced no words in asserting that the batter was irreplaceable, and urged cricket fraternity to not compare him with any other cricketer.

“Pujara is Pujara. Please don’t compare Pujara with anyone. People used to do puja to Pujara in series against Australia. Aap khade rahe, hum series jeetege. So don’t compare. Now what he did is outstanding. But from my point of view, I’m very happy because he’ll come to Australia and I get to see him again. He’s out of the dressing room and I’m also out of the dressing room,” stated Shastri.

Pujara was the Player of the Series in India’s maiden Test series win in Australia in 2018/19, scoring 521 runs in seven innings at 74.42 with three centuries and a fifty. He may not have delivered a show equivalent of that in terms of run-scoring, but Pujara played yet another crucial role in the series win in 2020/21, amassing 271 runs in eight innings, laced with three fifties. The most outstanding part of his two campaigns was that he faced 1258 balls in 2018/19 and 928 in 2020/21.

Shastri backs KL Rahul as India No. 3

Despite the talk being around Devdutt Padikkal to take up the No.3 role in Perth, with India eager to maintain the left-right combination. However, Shastri felt Rahul, with his experience, would be a better fit.

“When you look at this team, when you look at the experience, who has got the technique, I think KL Rahul, if he gets off to a good start in the Test, he is someone who can bat long. He’s got runs overseas as well in the past. He’s not a first-timer to Australia, this is his third tour. So it’s important that he believes in his ability and gets off to a good start and then he has the kind of game where he can play for long periods of time. But Puji, there’s only one Puji,” he added.