Vice-captaincy isn’t really relevant to the Asia Cup selection meeting.
There has been much talk about vice-captaincy in recent times. Shubman Gill as possible vice-captain for the Asia Cup is something that has been doing the rounds. The truth is that vice-captaincy isn’t something that is very relevant to the selection meeting. Gill as player will indeed be discussed, and a call taken. It is equally true that his inclusion or non-inclusion will not depend on him being a possible vice-captaincy option. Gill has already proved that he is captaincy material in Test cricket. Vice-captaincy isn’t going to tilt the scales for or against him on August 19.
“It is more of a ceremonial post than anything else,” a former chairman of selectors told RevSportz. “Only if something happens to Surya does it become relevant. Not always do you even need to announce a vice-captain. And there are many senior players in the team who can do the job if needed. All this talk about Shubman as vice-captain isn’t what the selectors will be bothered about. Rather, they will focus on selecting the right team. Does Shubman fit in with the template they have set? How do they justify getting him in when [Sanju] Samson, Abhishek [Sharma] and Tilak [Varma] have all done well for India? But then, Shubman has also done well whenever he has played T20 cricket, and you need to get this call right.”
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With just a day left for the selection, it can be said with a fair degree of certainty that Gill will be one of the major subjects of discussion in the meeting. Will he make it or will he not, and if he does, how will the selectors justify not continuing with Samson and Abhishek at the top of the order? All of it is expected to be about Gill the player, and not about him as a possible vice-captain.
“Captaincy, yes, but not vice-captaincy. It isn’t that significant really,” concluded the former selector. With Surya all set to continue as skipper for the foreseeable future, which includes the World Cup on home soil, the selectors aren’t expected to spend much time on leadership roles.
In fact, they could spend a bit of time picking one between Dhruv Jurel and Jitesh Sharma. Both have talent, and while Jitesh is more explosive of the two, Jurel is perhaps the more reliable and more solid. With Samson as the first-choice keeper, there is little chance that either of Jitesh or Jurel will play, and the call will be purely as a back-up option.
Finally, it will be interesting to see if the selectors decide to try out someone new. With the T20 World Cup just five months away, the Asia Cup is perhaps the final opportunity to check out on a new player. As the cup comes closer and India contest T20 games against South Africa and New Zealand in December-January, you would want to play your best XI and get the combination right. In fact, the time for experimentation is now. If Gill is in your World Cup plans, play him in Dubai. If Samson and Abhishek are the designated openers, they should be persisted with.
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