Shubman Gill for the Asia Cup? Why try to fix what isn’t broken?

Shubman Gill. Image: instagram.com

Boria Majumdar

There has been much talk about Shubman Gill being made vice-captain of the Asia Cup team. First things first, Gill is a gun player. He has been in stellar form, and that’s the case not just in red-ball cricket. There is no argument that he played superbly in England, and hence has to be included in the T20 set up. He had a very good IPL and has also been working on his strike-rate. The truth is you can’t go wrong by including him in the team.

Having said that, it is not just about Gill alone. It is also about the combination India has nurtured in the last one year, and whether there is reason to tamper with it. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have done nothing wrong. In fact, they have been fantastic in their roles and there has to enough justification to remove one of them. The question would be: why?

Why do you need to change this opening combination? What’s the logic behind such a call? Another player, in this case Gill, playing well doesn’t mean you change two people who have made the spot their own. Samson, after a few chances, has stood up as an opener and his record is evidence. While I would want to see Abhishek become a little more consistent, the truth is his is a high-risk-high-reward game that will always be accompanied by some failures. That’s the modern T20 template, and that’s what India have tried to perfect.

Coming to Yashasvi Jaiswal, he too hasn’t done anything wrong. So if other players are being considered, why not Jaiswal? He is well capable of having an impact at the top of the order and has played well across formats for a while. Going by the Gill logic, Jaiswal too should be considered.

It is true that when Suryakumar Yadav was appointed skipper, Gill was made his deputy. Thereafter, he was asked to prioritise Test cricket and missed out on the T20 format. While it is not his fault, the truth is also that players like Samson and Abhishek stepped up in the interim, grabbed their opportunities and settled down as openers. They were stellar in South Africa and there is every reason to persist with them.

India has an abundance of riches in white-ball cricket. Gill and Jaiswal are as good as anyone, and could well match Abhishek and Samson. But with the latter two doing extremely well, it would be unfair if their positions are tampered with. In all honesty, this is a tricky call. One reason which could tip the scales in Gill’s favour is that he could well be looked at as India’s all-format skipper going forward. But then, Surya is the captain now and will be for the World Cup next year. After that, the format will not be the preferred one for a period, and that’s what brings us to the Asia Cup selection yet one more time.

With arguments for both sides, it will be interesting to see what eventually happens when the team is announced.

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