Just five months after bringing Shubman Gill back from cold storage – he hadn’t feature in T20Is for 14 months – as vice-captain, no less, for the Asia Cup – and experimenting with him as an opener alongside Abhishek Sharma in three series, the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar dropped him for the World Cup just 49 days away.
Gill had been battling for form of late and had gone 18 innings without a fifty in the format. The Indian Express understands that the two factors leading to Gill being left out were a) his strike rate in the Powerplay; and b) team combination and balance.
It is understood that the last-minute decision was communicated by Agarkar to Gill, the captain of the Test and ODI teams, only after the selection meeting. A discussion on Gill’s place in the 15-member squad was expected when the panel met, but whether they would take the bold call of leaving him out altogether was not certain.
Despite the underwhelming returns of Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav, the team looked settled on paper with the big debate being around Washington Sundar and Rinku Singh. As it turned out, both left-handers made the cut, with the axe falling on Gill and wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. With Sanju Samson being the first-choice wicketkeeper, the selectors chose Ishan Kishan as the back-up option as he also bats at the top.
Agarkar explained why Gill didn’t make the cut.
“You’re looking at combinations at the moment. Someone has to miss out when you take 15. And unfortunately, it’s him (Gill). It’s not because he’s not a good player,” the chairman of selectors said.
The Indian Express understands that more than form, it was the combination factor that made the selectors take the brave call. It is reliably learnt that when the selectors met the team management regarding the make-up of the World Cup squad, one aspect that dominated the discussion was over- reliance on Hardik Pandya in the finisher’s role. The team management believed there was scope to accommodate a specialist and that’s how Rinku came into the discussion as an alternate for Gill instead of Washington.
Ever since Suryakumar and head coach Gautam Gambhir started their tenures, they have gone about strengthening the T20 team which had won the 2024 World Cup. Having embraced a high-risk approach with the bat all along, for the Asia Cup in the UAE, the think tank recognised the value of having a batsman of Gill’s calibre, as his presence around free-flowing, attacking batsmen was seen as an asset.
So what changed between September and now? It is largely the combination and the need to not compromise on the Powerplay.
Come the World Cup, where India are scheduled to play at six different venues, there is a strong chance that conditions could get slower as the tournament nears the business end. In such a scenario, runs in the Powerplay tend to be at a premium as was evident in the last T20I against South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday. Having Samson open alongside Abhishek Sharma could create a situation where the opponents are straightaway put under pressure. This is the sort of edge India want at the World Cup.
With Tilak Varma, Suryakumar, Shivam Dube and Pandya to follow, India also acknowledged the risk that comes with this approach. It is learnt that during the team management’s meeting with the selectors, where they pondered over all kinds of possibilities, one question remained unanswered.
If they go with an attacking approach and lose three wickets in the Powerplay, who do they turn to? That captain Suryakumar himself is enduring a lean patch was a factor as India don’t want two batsmen struggling for form in the XI. It is where the team management believed Rinku’s presence would come handy. Though he hasn’t set the IPL on fire with big runs recently, he plays the finisher’s role and would fit seamlessly into the combination.
With the decision to go with Rinku and Samson being locked as the first-choice opener, Jitesh was seen as a luxury and Kishan’s form meant he would be the ideal back-up to the two openers and the wicketkeeper. India look a stronger team on paper, and have all the makings of possibly becoming the first side to defend a T20 World Cup.