India’s T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill finds himself under the scanner amid his lean form in T20I cricket. But perhaps under more scrutiny are the head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar for getting Gill back in the T20I XI and dropping Sanju Samson, who excelled in the opening spot last year with three centuries.
After not playing a single T20I from August 2024 to August 2025, Gill walked into India’s XI in the Asia Cup 2025 and has been Abhishek Sharma’s opening partner, with Samson initially being pushed down in the middle order and now out of the XI.
Gill’s return hasn’t been fruitful: in 14 T20I innings since the Asia Cup, he’s scored 263 runs at an average of 23, with not a single half-century to his name. Amid captain Suryakumar Yadav’s own struggles in T20Is this year, the spotlight has grown on vice-captain Gill as two of India’s top-order batsmen are out of form.
In the ongoing IND vs SA T20I series, Gill has managed scores of 4 and 0. With the series standing level at 1-1, the chatter about whether Gill should be dropped from India’s XI for the third match has increased.
I wouldn’t be worried: Ashish Nehra on Shubman Gill’s struggles in T20Is
The right-handed opener has got support from his IPL franchise Gujarat Titans’ head coach, Ashish Nehra.
Speaking with the Times of India, Nehra opined that it’s unfair to take a call on a player like Gill after a couple of matches in the series. Nehra sounded in full support of Gill getting a longer rope.
“I wouldn’t be worried. You’re talking about the T20 format. And there are only two matches played with South Africa. This is our problem. In such a fast-paced format, whether it is international cricket or IPL, if we start evaluating players like Gill after two-three matches, it will be difficult,” Nehra told TOI.
Nehra, though, also touched on the depth of India’s talent in the shortest format with a spate of opening options not even part of the current squad.
“You have options. You can remove Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill. You can open with Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad. If you want to remove them, you can do it with Washington Sundar and Ishan Kishan. Options are always there if there are talks about changing players after not-good stats. But aise karoge to bahut mushkil hogi (But such a move will lead to difficulties),” he added.
IND vs SA: When is the third T20I of India vs South Africa series?
The third match of the India vs South Africa T20I series will be played on Sunday in Dharamsala.
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