Young India opener Shubman Gill is all set for his first ICC tournament as a senior India cricketer. Part of the 2018 Under-19 World Cup winning team, where he was also the Player of the Tournament, the upcoming World Cup 2023 at home will be Gill’s first ICC competition for India.
However, it perhaps wouldn’t have happened if the captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid hadn’t backed him as an opener after Ishan Kishan had blasted a double century.
Shubman had been doing well in 2022 and was on the verge of pushing Shikhar Dhawan out of the ODI side. But, in December last year, India rested Shubman from the 3 ODIs in Bangladesh, and instead, with Rohit Sharma injured for the third ODI, Ishan Kishan got an opportunity, and the left-hander hammered a double century.
This created a conundrum for the management. However, Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid backed Shubman Gill, who they had slotted as the opener to replace Dhawan before Kishan’s double century, for the ODI series at the start of the year against New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
In 6 ODIs against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Shubman smoked 3 centuries, including a double century, and a fifty to seal his spot as the opener, with Ishan Kishan being touted as the backup opener.
He’s had a scintillating year in ODIs: in 12 outings, Gill has scored 750 runs at an average of 68. This earned him recently the CEAT ODI Cricket of the Year award at CEAT’s event on Monday.
At the event, Gill mentioned Sharma and Rahul Dravid, thanking them for backing him despite Ishan Kishan’s double century.
“Our captain & coach gave me the opportunity & backed me even after Ishan scored a double ton, I was fortunate,” Shubman Gill said at the CEAT awards.
Shubman Gill selected in Asia Cup 2023 squad after broadcaster’s blunder
There was a lot of confusion spread among fans when broadcaster Star Sports didn’t show Gill in the Asia Cup squad. Soon after, though, Ajit Agarkar confirmed that Gill was in the squad.
India squad for Asia Cup 2023: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (travelling backup)
