Former cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh criticized the Indian management for breaking the opening combination of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. In contrast to Abhishek's "storm," he called vice-captain and new opener Shubman Gill a "table-fan," claiming that the team is too dependent on the latter to perform well during the powerplay.

Gill hasn't scored a half-century since rejoining the Men in Blue as the opener in T20Is and being elevated to vice-captain. He has scored 103 runs at a strike rate of 127.16 in four innings at 34.33 in the current five-T20I series in Australia.

To accommodate Gill at the top, India initially moved Sanju Samson down the order, and when he couldn’t score the runs at the new position, he was shunted out of the playing XI.

“When the Abhishek Sharma storm strikes, India scores big. In fact, the Abhishek Sharma–Shubman Gill combination feels like a table fan during a storm. So, we also assume that on the days the storm is in full force, the table fan is operating fine, as there is a strong wind and hence no problems. But when the storm doesn’t strike, we’ll ask why there is no air coming out of the table fan in the powerplay,” Ramesh said on his YouTube channel.

“The powerplay is the most important phase with the bat in a T20 game. Depending on who the openers are and based on the start they give, if the rest of the batting lineup capitalizes on it, the end score can be formidable. If a player like Abhishek Sharma maximizes that phase, it transforms into powerful play. Yet if he gets out, it turns into a power cut. So, Abhishek Sharma will be the biggest X-factor for India in the T20 World Cup," Ramesh added.

Although the BCCI hasn't said so directly, it appears obvious that Gill's elevation to vice-captain—which included demoting Axar Patel after just one series—was meant to start preparing him to succeed 35-year-old Suryakumar Yadav.