If a player like Shubman Gill is judged after two T20Is, it will be difficult: Ashish Nehra

Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra has strongly defended Shubman Gill amidst star batter's ordinary outing with the bat recently. Ashish Nehra expressed his displeasure with the snap judgments currently being made about the form of his skipper, Shubman Gill. Nehra cautions that quickly writing off the player after just a few outings in the unpredictable T20 format highlights a growing and concerning tendency to draw hasty conclusions in cricket commentary.

Ashish Nehra not worried aboyt Shubman Gill's T20I form

Gill recently rejoined the T20I squad as the vice-captain during the Asia Cup. Over his last 10 games in the format, he has scored a total of 181 runs, maintaining a strike rate below 140. Given the cricketer's current performance and the intense public debate surrounding it, Nehra, who has closely observed Gill as the GT head coach for the past two seasons, was specifically asked if he felt concerned, particularly with the next Indian Premier League season still three months away.

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“Forget three months, had IPL been three weeks away, I (still) wouldn’t be worried. Because you are talking about a format like T20. And only two matches have been played against South Africa, if I am not wrong," Nehra told PTI.

Ashish Nehra advices everyone to not judge Shubman Gill

Nehra believes that the core problem fueling much of the criticism directed at cricketers in India is the pervasive tendency to judge players solely on their statistics. He suggests that this overemphasis on numbers alone fails to account for the context, conditions, and dynamics of the game.

“This is our problem. In such a fast-paced tournament format, whether it’s international cricket or IPL, if a player like Shubman Gill is judged after not coming good in two to three matches, then it will be difficult," Nehra added.

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In a response typical of his straightforward style, Nehra offered a sarcastic suggestion, if the critics truly believe that constant changes to the squad or batting order are necessary, there are certainly plenty of other players available to fill those roles.

“You have a lot of options if you want to see. You can remove Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill and you can open with Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad," Nehra continued.

“If you want to remove them (Sai and Ruturaj), you can open with Washington Sundar and Ishan Kishan. So, you have a lot of options. Now, if you lose 1 or 2 matches, if the stats of the so-called batsmen or bowlers are not good and if you talk about changing them, then it will be difficult," Nehra concluded.