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Gavaskar said that the ommission of Gill is still a surprise considering how good a batter he is and his record in the IPL. (File Photo)
The big news to come out of India’s squad announcement for the 2026 T20 World Cup was Shubman Gill, vice-captain of the squad in the matches towards the end of this year, has been dropped from the squad. Axar Patel has been reinstated as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy and Sanju Samson is now expected to be back as Abhishek Sharma’s regular opening partner.
Former India captain and batting great Sunil Gavaskar said in the immediate aftermath of the squad announcement that Gill and Suryakumar had been in the same flight as him to Mumbai from Ahmedabad, where India won the fifth T20I against South Africa on Friday by 30 runs. “He was in the same flight coming back from Ahmedabad with Surya,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports. “So two things I am going to say. Surya was sitting on the seat in front of me, I tapped him on the arm and told him that I am available for selection. So that is also a surprise for me,” Gavaskar joked.
“And the other thing is, when we were getting off, I do hope Shubman takes it in the right spirit. Because all I want is th very best for him. I said, some of these injuries that he has had was a little freakish. The neck injury and now recently the two injury recently. I said ghar me jaa kar kisi ko bol dena ki nazar utar de. Because we believe in that. Nazar kabhi kabhi lag jaati hai. I requested him to ask an elder in the family to do it,” he said.
Gavaskar was referring to a neck injury that Gill had suffered while fielding on Day 1 of India’s first Test against South Africa, which kept him out of the rest of that series and the subsequent ODIs against the Proteas as well. Gill then suffered a foot injury while training before the fourth T20I against South Africa. The match itself was called off due excessive fog in Lucknow, Gill ended up sitting out the fifth T20I due to the knock. Samson went back to the top of the order in that match and scored 37 in 22 balls, putting up an opening partnership of 63 in 34 balls with Abhishek and 34 in 21 with Tilak Varma.
‘Ommission of Gill is a surprise’
Gill had gone into overdrive with the bat in Tests and ODIs after he was made captain in the two formats this year. However, he couldn’t quite replicate that in the T20Is that he played after that, with his best score in the seven matches he batted in after being made vice-captain being a 39-ball 46 in the fourth T20I against Australia. That, coupled with the fact that there were the likes of Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal competing for that spot piled on questions on whether Gill was the best pic as opener for India going into next year’s T20 World Cup.
Gavaskar, however, said that the ommission of Gill is still a surprise considering how good a batter he is and his record in the IPL. “The ommission of Shubman Gill is a surprise. He is a class act, quality batter who has a good season. Yes, I know he struggled for these last few matches. But class always tells in the end, form is always temporary. And he was also coming (into the series against South Africa) after a long layoff. He was not in any rhythm. When you are not rhythm and you play the shortest format of the game, where you’ve got to go bang bang, and moreover, if your natural bend is playing along the ground, he is more a Test player. It doesn’t come easily to play the kind of shots that gets you runs in the T20 format. So he had a bit of a problem, but he is very good. We have seen it in the IPL as well. So maybe just that bit of lack of form might have gone against him,” he said.
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