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India's second T20I against Afghanistan saw Shubman Gill's exit from India's playing XI as he was replaced by star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. Having established himself in the no.3 spot in Test cricket, Gill was initially brought in as a temporary T20I opener for the first game of the series. India were without Virat Kohli, who was unavailable for personal reasons, and also missed Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first T20I at Mohali due to injury. While opening for India, Gill was involved in a major lapse in concentration, leading to Rohit Sharma's dismissal for a duck.
Rohit was clearly upset with Gill following their mix-up. After the Indian captain's dismissal, Gill tried to accelerate his innings, hitting five boundaries during the initial powerplay. Gill couldn't fully capitalise on his start and was eventually dismissed for 23 off 12 balls.
As India hosted Afghanistan in Indore for the series decider with a 1-0 lead, the team welcomed back former captain Virat Kohli and young player Yashasvi Jaiswal into the starting lineup. Jaiswal took Shubman Gill's place, while Kohli stepped in as the no.3 batsman for the 2nd T20I. Amidst scrutiny of Gill's form in T20I, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has offered insights into why the top-order batsman is struggling to perform.
"I think Shubman Gill has done an injustice to his talent in the last few games. He is too good a player and has too much skill for the kind of hurry that he has been showing. He scores 20-odd and then plays a loose shot. This is what he wasn't doing when he had a successful year. He just needs to bat and bat without doing anything special. He needs to realise that even if you are the best batter in the world, you can't play every ball on your own terms. You have to react to the ball instead of dictating it," Butt said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.
Jaiswal stepped in as Rohit's opening partner in place of Gill, reinforcing his case for selection with a stunning performance against Afghanistan in the second T20I. Demonstrating his power-hitting prowess, Jaiswal racked up an impressive 68 runs off just 34 balls, contributing significantly to India's victory and securing a 2-0 series lead in Indore. Jaiswal is now expected to join Rohit at the top of the order in the third and concluding T20I of the series on Thursday.
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