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Going into Saturday's meeting, the place of incumbent T20I vice captain Gill – who had been short of runs and plagued by injury of late – was expected to be a point of discussion, but whether the panel would leave him out altogether was far from certain. (CREIMAS and PTI)
Shubman Gill came to know about his omission from the T20 World Cup squad only after the decision had been formalised by selection committee, when chief selector Ajit Agarkar communicated it to him.
Going into Saturday’s meeting, the place of incumbent T20I vice captain Gill – who had been short of runs and plagued by injury of late – was expected to be a point of discussion, but whether the panel would leave him out altogether was far from certain.
After a neck problem that surfaced during the first Test against South Africa, a toe injury put him out of the last two T20Is against the Proteas. That Gill was informed after the event is significant as he is the skipper of the Test and ODI teams.
“You’re looking at combinations at the moment. Someone has to miss out when you take 15. And unfortunately, it’s him (Gill). It’s not because he’s not a good player,” Agarkar explained the decision.
With the team under Surykumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir not compromising on the all-attacking approach, Sanju Samson became the preferred option with the team management opting on having a wicketkeeper at the top of the order and not in the middle. And Ishan Kishan came in as the back-up opener and wicketkeeper after his stellar performance in leading Jharkhand to the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently. Gill’s form, fitness and scoring rate seems to have gone against him but the official verdict has been that it is due to the preferred combination. With the selectors looking for another option, apart from Hardik Pandya, in the finisher’s role, Rinku Singh came in the squad, leaving little scope to accommodate Gill in the 15. It is also why Jitesh Sharma was left out in place of Ishan, effectively as backup top-order keeper.
With India playing every match at the T20 World Cup at a different venue, pitches are likely to get slower as the tournament progresses. So, runs in the Powerplay will assume added significance. An explosive opening partnership, with both batsmen firing on all cylinders, becomes the preferred modus operandi for the Indian think tank. This is where other players jumped over Gill in the selection pecking order.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup:
Top-order batters: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Tilak Varma
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Middle-order batters: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya (pace-allrounder), Axar Patel (vc, spin-allrounder), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar (spin-allrounder), Rinku Singh
Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana
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