Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa feels that Shreyas Iyer is a better option than Shubman Gill to lead the side in T20Is as the latter is yet to 'earn his spot' in the format. This comes after Gill was recently appointed the Men in Blue's captain in ODIs ahead of the upcoming three-match assignment against Australia that is set to commence from October 19. The 26-year-old is now India's skipper in two out of threee formats and is expected to take up leadership duties in T20Is soon as well.
Uthappa believes Gill can lose his spot in T20I set-up
However, Uthappa feels that handing the T20I captaincy to Gill won't be a smart move as he hasn't yet earned his spot in the set-up. He also pointed out how the batter didn't have great Asia Cup campaign and it can lead to his spot as the opener being taken by either Yashasvi Jaiswal or Sanju Samson.
I get One Day and Test cricket, and I think he's a solid pick in Test cricket, and he's shown us that as well. As far as ODI cricket is concerned, I think his numbers are good, but I think they'll get better for a player of his caliber. I think they will look at Shreyas Iyer as a captain in T20. Shubman Gill, he still has to earn that spot,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
“Especially when have Yashasvi Jaiswal waiting in the wings, Sanju Samson's spot being shifted, Shreyas Iyer not being a part of the side, waiting in the wings as well. I wish his Asia Cup went better for him for his sake because now Abhishek has run with that one opener slot. Now, the second opener slot is still very much open. As far as I am concerned, Yashasvi can be someone who can come up there. Sanju can certainly come up there, I still think Gill needs to secure his spot first. So, I don't think it will be taken for granted in a sense where he will be captain or he will be next in line," he added.
How many ru ns did Gill score in Asia Cup?
Notably, Gill wasn't able to impress on his T20I return and finished the Asia Cup with only 127 runs in seven innings. However, despite this, he has been given a spot in the side's T20I squad for the upcoming five-match series against Australia that will begin from October 29. It remains to be seen if the 26-year-old will be able to improve his form in the shortest format in what will be quite an important series for the Men in Blue.
India's squad for Australia T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.