India T20 World Cup squad: Why Shubman Gill was dropped – at the last moment | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: Hours before the T20 World Cup squad announcement in Mumbai on Saturday, India vice-captain Shubman Gill was with the squad in Ahmedabad. His participation in the fixture, as previously reported by TimesofIndia.com, was touch and go due to a toe injury. The management didn’t want to risk pushing him for the fifth T20I vs South Africa. They also explored the option of an injection for the “minor niggle” but the decision-makers, keeping the New Zealand T20Is and T20 World Cup in mind, decided against it.Gill sat out but few would have read the undertones of the “cautious decision.”
“Shubman Gill could have played as the niggle was minor and there was no fracture etc. but it was a cautious decision to not rush him for the match,” said a team source.A couple of days back, when the team reached Lucknow for the fourth T20I, there was a temptation within the think-tank to try out Sanju Samson. A toe injury in the nets gave them that opportunity. The fixture was abandoned due to fog but in Ahmedabad, there was another chance to try the wicketkeeper-batter at top of the order. A breezy 22-ball 37 and 63-run stand with Abhishek Sharma was enough to not only force Gill out of the Playing XI, but also the squad.When Gill returned to the T20I setup during the Asia Cup in September, he opened with Abhishek and it forced Samson to bat lower down the order.
In the four innings he played, the right-handed Samson batted just once at No. 3 and was largely given the middle-order slot. A role he hasn’t held in the past and clearly didn’t look comfortable. It’s understood that the wicketkeeper-batter had a word with the management in this regard and asked for a top-order role.That was the primary reason he was tried at No.3 in the T20I vs Australia at MCG and went on to open in every match he played for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Two half-centuries and a couple of 40s later, he sent another reminder to the selectors.Gill, however, didn’t get the kind of backing captain Suryakumar Yadav has enjoyed even after a long poor patch with the bat, and he was omitted from the squad sheet. A move that not many saw coming and took everyone by surprise.It’s further learnt that there wasn’t any dialogue with the India ODI and Test captain in Ahmedabad and he was informed about the non-selection moments before the meeting on Saturday.“Shubman Gill was spoken to before the meeting. Obviously, we can’t give the details but he explained the combination call. Unfortunate for him but at the end of the day you need the best combination for the World Cup,” said a BCCI official.Ajit Agarkar explained the Gill call and why the selectors explored different options at top of the order.“It’s more to do with the combination that we want to play, or what the team management is comfortable with playing,” Agarkar said.
“Their thoughts are… who’s going to bat at the top? Abhishek, obviously, has done what he has done over the last year. And we felt the keeper at the top at this point gives us a lot more solidity than anywhere else in the team to play different combinations. There are only 15 that we could have picked. Someone has to miss out. It’s him. It’s not because he’s not a good player. Again, Jitesh hasn’t done too much wrong. These are the combinations that the team management is looking for,” he added.Captain Suryakumar Yadav, too, spoke on similar lines and why there was a need to have a wicketkeeper-batter at top of the order. Surya played down the form and lack of runs chatter around Gill and said it was purely a combination call.“It’s not about his form or anything. It’s just about the combination right now. We wanted to have a keeper at the top. We wanted to have someone like Rinku Singh or maybe a Washington Sundar later on, to have a different combination. So that’s why we brought in that extra wicketkeeper at the top.“And he’s a terrific player. And there’s no question about that. The only thing is that the situation is such that we need a keeper at the top of the order to have two-three good combinations which can win us the World Cup,” said Surya.The moment Gill was out of the squad and Samson returned to top of the order, it was going to be difficult to accommodate Jitesh Sharma and the need for another top-order wicketkeeper option forced the selectors to look towards an in-form Ishan Kishan – a player who was nowhere close to India call a week back but a terrific Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign and the late combination calls opened the door for the left-hander.The way this entire Gill non-selection has played out, it is comfortable for everyone. Captain Suryakumar doesn’t have a high-profile vice-captain breathing down his neck. Chief selector Agarkar has rewarded a domestic performer. And, coach Gambhir will not be accused of favouring Gill.India’s squad for New Zealand T20Is and 2026 T20 World Cup: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (wk)
