Asia Cup: The road to T20I World Cup and beyond begins here

Time of India

3 days ago

Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal
New Delhi: Weeks before the team for the T20 World Cup was picked in 2024,
Shubman Gill
had given a mild reminder to the selectors. 'If they want to ignore 800-plus runs in the IPL, then good luck to them,' Gill had said, referring to his 890-run IPL season in 2023.
Gill eventually missed out on India's victorious campaign.
The selectors are due to sit in the next fortnight to pick the T20 team for the upcoming
Asia Cup
to be played in UAE in Sept. With
Suryakumar Yadav
in charge of the team, Gill's role will be up for debate. More than the Asia Cup, the selectors will be laying down a broader roadmap for India's T20 cricket — with an eye on the T20 World Cup at home in Feb-March and beyond.
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One must remember Gill is the incumbent ODI vice-captain.
He was also given T20I vice-captaincy in the T20I series in Sri Lanka immediately after the T20 World Cup. It has been a heady few months in Indian cricket. Gill's ascension as India's premier batter has coincided with a stunning revival of the team's Test performance in England. Yet, Indian cricket is still torn between specialists vs all-format players when it comes to the T20 team.
Even in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup last year, there was a strong undercurrent against having veterans
Rohit Sharma
, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja. It reached to a stage where it was a given that the trio would retire from the format after the tournament. It was all based on statistical evidence: India were playing outdated T20 cricket compared to England, Australia, West Indies and even South Africa.
Gautam Gambhir
, when he assumed the role of India's head coach, has emphasised on having a niche T20 team giving credence to IPL performers.
Here's the challenge for the selectors now. Over the last year, India's T20 cricket under Suryakumar has been refreshing. If one goes by the performances of the three series he has led in since Oct, India look to have a settled team which is playing uninhibited cricket. But then, there has been no Gill,
Yashasvi Jaiswal
and Sai Sudharsan in Surya's team yet. Gill, Jaiswal and even
Jasprit Bumrah
were conserved for the heavy Test calendar that culminated in a thrilling series in England this month.
The debate that will dominate the selection meeting would be around how the selectors accommodate Gill and Jaiswal. The selection committee has maintained that the players who were picked around the last T20 World Cup should always be given preference since they missed out on the format because of their Test commitments. Indian cricket has usually leaned towards captains across formats who can cater to the market forces and bring substantial brand value.
That Gill has become a major brand can't be ignored.
Poll
Should Shubman Gill be included in the T20 squad for the Asia Cup?
Yes, he deserves a spot
No, stick with the current team
Former India selector Devang Gandhi, who oversaw Virat Kohli's transition into an all-format captain, believes handing Gill the vice-captaincy is a no-brainer. 'Gill has built the 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 he should not Gill a leadership role in T20. The messaging has to be clear about who takes over after Surya,' Gandhi told TOI.
'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,' Gandhi reasoned.
When the knives were out against Kohli, Rohit, Jadeja and KL Rahul, strike-rate had become the moot point. Gill is seen as a player who is in the mould of Kohli and Rahul — relying on conventional cricket to score his runs in T20s. Gill's IPL strike-rate has been around 150, if not more, in the last three IPL seasons where he has scored over 2000 runs.
His T20I strike rate is pushing 140.
One must also recognise that Jaiswal was ahead in the race till the heavy Test season arrived last year. Jaiswal has scored 773 T20I runs at a strike rate of 164 and an average of 36.
Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta, who has been following Indian cricket closely as a broadcaster, says Gill has to be in the starting XI. For him, the wicketkeeper has to be a flexible batter in the middle order.
'Sanju Samson has done well. But he struggled against a full strength England team at home. That was the only series under Surya where India played a top international full-strength team. Gill can play the role of Kohli who can take the innings deep in high-pressure tournaments.
He has IPL performances to back him. On slower pitches in UAE, one must have that kind of player. Going by how Agarkar's panel has worked, the planning will be beyond the Asia Cup.
If they need to groom a captain for the future, they will have to decide if Axar Patel is above Gill,' Dasgupta told TOI.
'Abhishek Sharma has to start as the opener because he can kill a game when he gets going. But it's imperative that Jaiswal is in and around the squad. So, the team management has to decide if Samson or
Jitesh Sharma
can serve in the middle-order,' he added.
No place for Siraj in the settled bowling attack?
The selectors will not have to spend much time over picking the bowling attack. Bumrah is all but certain to play most of the T20Is leading to the T20 World Cup with Arshdeep Singh and
Hardik Pandya
. For all his stellar show in the Test series in England, Siraj doesn't look like finding a place in the T20I side right now. He lost his place in white-ball cricket since the 2024 T20 World Cup. The selectors may pick an additional pacer like Harshit Rana or Avesh Khan. The spin attack looks well-rounded with Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar and Washington Sundar.
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