On Saturday, ahead of the T20 World Cup, Indian selectors sent a clear message—performance, not reputation, is what matters. This is why they dropped Shubman Gill and brought back wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh to the team. This shows the team is prioritising those who can play effective roles, especially in the shorter format.
Dropping Shubman Gill was the biggest decision of the selection meeting held in Mumbai. However, considering recent performance, there is nothing surprising about this decision.
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While consistent in Tests and ODIs, Gill has not been able to cement his place in T20S, especially as an opener. Where team management wants explosive starts instead of a slow pace, his strike rate in power play and the emergence of more aggressive alternatives have gone against Shubman. Against South Africa in three matches, he scored 4, 0 and 28 runs respectively.
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said at the press conference, "Shubman Gill is not getting runs at the moment and also missed the last World Cup." Captain Suryakumar Yadav, regarding Gill's exclusion, said, "This is not about Gill's form. We wanted a keeper higher up in the batting order."
However, questions remain about Suryakumar's own batting form. In the calendar year 2025, he has not been able to score a half-century in any T20 international match. In the recently concluded series against South Africa, which India won 3-1, Suryakumar's runs were 12, 5, 12 and 5 respectively.
After the squad announcement on Saturday, Suryakumar said on this matter, "I know what needs to be done and will do it. You will see batsman Surya. Everyone has gone through such times; mine has just been a bit longer."
In 2025, Suryakumar has scored a total of 218 runs in 19 T20 innings, with an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16, without a single half-century. As India prepares to defend their T20 World Cup title, a stronger batting performance is needed from the captain.
