Shubman Gill might be playing the remaining three T20Is of the ongoing series against South Africa to save his place in the team. That he is the vice-captain of the side doesn’t insulate him from the chop. It is learnt that the selectors and the team management are concerned about a worrying top-order slump with the T20 World Cup around the corner. Gill will have to regain his mojo at the earliest.
Suryakumar Yadav, the captain, is not covering himself in glory either. That Axar Patel was sent ahead of him in the second T20I in New Chandigarh, when the ball was darting around, was an indication that the team management has become iffy about the skipper’s form. Surya is India’s one of the finest-ever T20I batsmen, but this year he has scored 201 runs in 19 matches at an average of 14.35. His strike rate, too, has dropped to the region of 120s. It’s not quite the Surya of yore, when he used to be ‘Mr 360-degree’, scoring his runs at a strike-rate north of 170.
All said and done, dropping the captain with just eight more matches to be played before the World Cup doesn’t appear to be an option. As regards Gill, who has scored 263 runs at 23.90 in 14 matches (strike rate in the 130s) after being brought back to the shortest-format fold before the Asia Cup this year, capable replacements are waiting in the wings.
There have been mitigating factors for Gill in this series. In the first game, he was undercooked, returning from an injury lay-off. In the second match, where he perished for a golden duck, Gill got a beauty from Lungi Ngidi first up. That said, India had won 11 of their 14 T20Is with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opening, when Gill wasn’t part of the set-up. Mind, Yashasvi Jaiswal is there as well, among the stand-bys.
After the defeat in the second T20I, Surya fronted up and made a frank and honest assessment of things. “With bat, myself and Shubman could have given a good start,” he told the host broadcaster at the post-match presentation. “Abhishek can’t always do it. I should have batted deeper, we learn and try to do better.”
The third T20I is in Dharamsala on Sunday. Will there be a tweak in the batting order — Sanju returning to the playing XI and pairing up with Abhishek at the top, with Gill coming in at No. 3? It remains an option. It also allows two power-hitters — Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube — to bat No. 6 and 7 respectively. India underutilised Dube in New Chandigarh, the all-rounder walking out to bat at No. 8, when the game was done and dusted.
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