Will the IND vs AFG 2nd T20I be the end of the road for Shubman Gill’s T20 World Cup 2024 aspiration? It certainly could be. With Rohit Sharma making a return and Rahul Dravid confirming Yashasvi Jaiswal as their second designated opener, Gill has found himself out of favor.
Not too long ago, Shubman Gill was India’s number-one prospect. Now, with a series of failures in Test cricket, an underwhelming ODI World Cup, and Jaiswal lighting the world on fire in T20Is, Gill has slipped down the pecking order.
But is dropping Gill from the T20 side justified? If the opener was playing for any other team, he could have potentially been their star batter. But on the Indian cricket team, he lives under the shadow of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
The two modern greats hold such immense value despite their no-show in T20s in the last year that they have been slotted into the team ahead of Gill and Jaiswal.
Shubman Gill: The T20 star
At 24, Shubman Gill is already a star in the shortest format of the game. Last year, he scored 312 runs at 26 with a strike rate of 145.11, with one century and one fifty to his name. In the IPL 2023 season, he was the highest run scorer with 890 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 157.80.
So, why isn’t he a sure-shot starter in the India cricket team? Well, as mentioned above, due to the star power of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Rohit, being India’s skipper, will surely open the innings. But should he? His numbers suggest otherwise. He played no T20I last year and scored just 332 runs at 20.75 with a strike rate of 132.80. In no way is his number comparable to Gill’s. But being the skipper, he gets the go-ahead.
Now, if Gill doesn’t open, he bats at 3. A spot contested by Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. No one comes close to Surya in the format, and therefore any comparison is inane. But Kohli, like Rohit, doesn’t have equally impressive numbers. He played no T20Is in 2023 and scored 251 fewer runs while striking under 140.
The truth is, the influence and stature of the two senior statesmen will be the reason behind Shubman Gill’s omission from the side. Will he play the T20 World Cup 2024? That can only happen if Jaiswal is unfit or Rohit decides to hang his boots from the shortest format of the game.
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