He has returned with 4 & 0 in the ongoing series against South Africa.
A golden duck on Thursday was the latest moment of frustration for Shubman Gill as the pressure keeps mounting ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. In the second T20I of the ongoing India vs South Africa series, Gill edged a delivery to the slip on the very first ball he faced.
Four in the series, followed by a duck has increased the scrutiny around Gill and his spot in the India playing XI.
Shubman Gill is rated extremely highly by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and team management. To the point where they see him as the all-format captain, having already taken over the reins in Tests and ODIs. He is currently the deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in the shorter format, but he hasn’t quite managed to secure his spot.
To any unbiased cricket fan, there can be no doubt about Gill’s talent and potential. We have seen that in the other two formats for India. We have also witnessed that in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
In the last three IPL seasons, Gill has been one of the most prolific batters with over 2,400 runs at an average of 46 and a strike rate of nearly 150. He has hit four centuries and 16 half-centuries in this period.
That performance hasn’t transpired in international T20s, where he is averaging just about 28 after 35 matches. He has managed to cross the fifty-run mark in only four of these games, scoring a century once. This year, he is averaging less than 24 from 15 innings and has failed to get a fifty even once.
These numbers are starting to become a huge concern for India and Shubman Gill, especially with several alternatives for the spot.
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Given the rich talent India possesses, Shubman Gill doesn’t have much time left to secure his spot with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson breathing down his neck. Samson was the guy most affected by the head coach Gautam Gambhir’s call to pair Gill with Abhishek Sharma.
Samson had a pretty good run at the top of the order, but a string of low scores ahead of the Asia Cup resulted in Gill getting the opening spot. Samson eventually lost his playing XI spot as Jitesh Sharma is more suitable for a middle-order role.
Jaiswal has been waiting in the wings for a long time. He has played 23 T20Is for India and averages 36 at a strike rate of 164. In the IPL, he has amassed over 1,600 runs at a strike rate of 160 while averaging 40. Jaiswal has a genuine claim to take that opening spot in India’s T20I line-up.
The pressure is certainly building up on Shubman Gill to justify his selection and for the team management after taking a decision that has led to a lot of instability. India needs to address this elephant in the room sooner if they are to head into the T20 World Cup 2026 with confidence as the defending champions.
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