Shubman Gill is the toast of the town following his impressive show as a batter and captain in the recent Test series against England. His brilliance has thrown a question — how long will Suryakumar Yadav remain India’s T20I captain?
One of the major selection headaches for the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee in picking the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup will be on how to fit Gill. The 25-year-old has not played a T20I match since July 2024, amid the priority over Test cricket and ODIs.
Having amassed a staggering 754 runs in 10 innings to help India pull off a stunning 2-2 draw in the five-match Test series, there has been a growing consensus over wanting Gill's return to the shortest format.
Speaking to TOI, former India selector Devang Gandhi said that Gill has built an aura akin to Virat Kohli in 2017, when the latter was groomed under MS Dhoni.
Lauding Agarkar’s foresight in naming Gill the Test captain, Gandhi said there was no reason the Punjab lad shouldn’t lead in T20Is.
"Gill has built an aura similar to what Virat had in 2017. Virat was groomed under MS Dhoni. Gill is also at his peak, like Virat was. He, too, has reacted to captaincy as well as Virat did. Ajit Agarkar has shown great foresight by appointing Gill as Test captain. There’s no reason why Gill shouldn’t be in a leadership role in T20. The messaging has to be clear about who takes over after Surya,” Gandhi stated.
Gandhi warned against split captaincy in Indian cricket, emphasizing the need for stability when a prolific all-format player is already leading in one format.
“Unlike other countries, split captaincy doesn’t work in India in the long run because you crave stability in the thought process. When you have a prolific all-format player leading in one format, it becomes difficult to not hand him the same responsibility in the other format. Gill has ticked all the boxes as a batter. And he has led in IPL,” he added.
The selection panel is expected to pick the squad for the Asia Cup on August 19 or 20 depending on when the Centre of Excellence's (CoE) Sports Science team sends the medical bulletin of all players, including that of skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who has already started batting at the nets in Bengaluru.
