Former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja heaped praise on Shubman Gill and stated that there is a reason why the latter was brought back in the T20I set-up over Yashasvi Jaiswal. This comes after the team management decided to select Gill in the Men in Blue's 15-member squad for Asia Cup despite the 26-year-old having not featured in the shortest format since July, 2024.
Gill wasn't just brought back to the T20I squad, but was also made the vice-captain of the team for Asia Cup. This just shows that the BCCI is now backing him to perform in all the three formats. With him already being the Test skipper, it wouldn't be a big surprise if he gets elected as the Men in Blue's captain in all the formats in the future.
Jadeja remarked that Gill is currently getting quite a lot of privileges from the BCCI and added that he is being favoured by the Indian cricket board because they see the 26-year-old as the national team's future cap[tain in evry format.
“Everyone has put their hopes on him (Gill). There is something special about him and there’s no doubt about it. And if he’s been brought in instead of someone like Jaiswal or Sanju Samson who has scored three centuries in a row in this format, then you can imagine how privileged he is and the Chosen One," Jadeja said on Sony Sports.
“Everyone hopes he is probably someone there for the long haul. He’s consistent, and it is not only in the game. You are seeing it in him as a human being too. He’s being looked as future captain of India and so he’s getting all these advantages. But there is no pressure of the advantages. I would say the pressure of a privilege would be there. He is not under pressure to keep his place," he added.
Gill's batting display against UAE
Gill made his T20I return with the match against UAE in Asia Cup played an unbeaten inning of 20 as India began their campaign with a comprehensive 9-wicket victory. Though the bowlers had made the batters' job easy by bundling out UAE for just 57 runs, Jadeja feels that Gill was able to repay the selectors' faith through his short by impactful knock.
“From what we saw in the short innings (vs UAE), he has repaid the faith. And if it seems that India are going to play eight batters, then your consistency won’t matter. I think as we move forward, I feel that his strike rate will keep getting better and the consistency that we have seen till now will probably come down a bit," Jadeja stated.
India cruised past UAE and chased down the 58-run target in only 4.3 overs to start their Asia Cup campaign on a high. Now, they will be locking horns against arch-rivals Pakistan on September 14 where a victory will almost guarantee them of a spot in the Super 4 stage.