Shubman Gill will be hoping to make a mark in the T20I series in South Africa after having had an ordinary World Cup 2023 campaign. The young opener was picked in the 17-man squad for what promises to be a hard-fought series against a power-packed Proteas side. The newly-appointed Gujarat Titans captain returns to the T20I set-up for the first time since India’s tour of the West Indies in August.
Is Shubman Gill guaranteed a spot in the XI in the first T20I in Durban on Sunday? Well, the Indian team management, led by captain Suryakumar Yadav and head coach Rahul Dravid, have to make a tough call as both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad are part of the squad. One of them have to make way for Shubman Gill if the Gujarat Titans skipper is to play the first T20I.
India’s tour of South Africa: Full coverage
Ruturaj Gaikwad was in fine form in the recently-concluded T20I series against Australia. The Chennai Super Kings star, who was the vice-captain of the side in the series, hit 223 runs in 5 matches including a hundred which came in a losing cause. On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 138 runs in 5 matches a stunning strike rate of close to 170.
Ruturaj and Yashasvi complimented each other wonderfully well against Australia as the Rajasthan Royals star took the onus upon himself to give the team flying starts. Yashasvi tore into the opposition new ball bowlers in the powerplay. Yes, Yashasvi was not able to convert his starts into big knocks, but the young left-hander was selfless and fearless in his approach.
Speaking on his YouTube show on the match day, former India opener Aakash Chopra said he doesn’t know whom to drop to accommodate Shubman Gill in the XI. India also have a back-up wicketkeeper and opener in Ishan Kishan in the 17-man squad.
“Shubman Gill is back, so I am assuming he will play. He should play the first match itself. If he plays, who will open with him? Both Ruturaj and Yashasvi are standing together and saying that they did well in the last series. Ruturaj scored a century as well, was the highest run-scorer, so he will say he should be played. However, Yashasvi is a left-hander, very attractive and aggressive, he will say he should be played. So that’s the first fight that who should be played. Difficult question, I don’t have an answer,” Aakash Chopra said in his YouTube show.
India also have plenty of options for the middle-order as Shreyas Iyer is likely to retain his place after his match-winning fifty in the series finale against Australia last week. Tilak Varma might not get a game in the first T20I of the 3-match series.
Aakash Chopra said it’s important that the team management gives a consistent run to those picked in the first T20I. Notably, India have only 6 more T20I matches before the T20 World Cup in June next year.
“I will keep a close eye on India’s selection because whoever you play in the first game, this is your duty that you play them all the matches because it is a three-match series only. So the selection of 17 players may just backfire but that’s the way it is,” he added.
INDIA T20I SQUAD
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
