Ex-India star left impressed with Shubman Gill's 'insane' call ahead of New Zealand ODIs

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa hailed Shubman Gill's determination and was left impressed with his reported push for Test preparation. Following the Men in Blue's series whitewash at home to South Africa last year, Gill had suggested BCCI to hold 15-day red-ball camps before a Test assignment according to a recent report by The Times of India. This would massively help the players with their preparation for a series and it would also see them meet the demands required for Test cricket.

Uthappa hails Gill's call

Uthappa praised Gill for taking such a call and even described it as "insane". The former batter believes that Team India need to take such seteps in order to be successful in the World Test Championship and for bringing positive results in overseas conditions.

"I think it is an insane call from a leader. There cannot be a better call than that. He is taking charge of Test cricket in that sense. It is very good. Before a Test series, a team needs a preparation of at least two weeks. We are playing Test series to win the WTC. So to win that, we cannot win by just playing Test cricket," Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.

"You have to plan, prepare, and build. You need to give that respect to Test cricket as a board and a team. I am very happy that he brought it up," he added.

Gill's forgettable series against South Africa

Gill is set to lead the Indian team in their upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand that will commence from January 11. The assignment against South Africa had been quite tough for the 26-year-old as after sustaining a neck injury in the first Test, he was ruled out of the second Test and the entire ODI series. In his place, KL Rahul was handed the leadership duties for the one-day assignment.

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Though Gill did make a return in the T20I series against the Proteas, he only played the first three games of the five-match series. He was then dropped from the team before not being included in India's squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. With the injury setback behind him, Gill will be looking to make a strong return in the first ODI against New Zealand that will be held in Vadodara.

India's squad for New Zealand ODIs: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC)*, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal