‘I feel a little bit sad for Shubman Gill’ – The former Indian opener throws light on batter’s chances in ODIs

Shubman Gill has impressed one and all in his short ODI career, scoring 687 runs in 15 matches at an average of 57.25 with one century and four half-centuries. However, the 23-year-old was not part of the India squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh as the team has skipper Rohit Sharma and left-hand batter, Shikhar Dhawan, as their preferred openers. 

Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer said that it would be slightly difficult for Gill to audition for the number and position after Ishan Kishan recently scored a double century against Bangladesh in the third and final ODI of the series. 

An injury to the Men in Blue skipper had opened the chances for the wicketkeeper-batter to replace him at the top order. The 24-year-old went on to score his maiden ton in ODIs and then he became the fastest and youngest player to score a double century. He smashed 210 off 131 balls, thus helping India to a 227-run win.

He is the senior opener and he has had a bad series: Wasim Jaffer

“Ishan Kishan obviously puts himself ahead of Shubman Gill now. I feel a little bit sad for Gill, he was the frontrunner before this innings. He was the third opener in the line after Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan and now he will be in the fourth spot. Sometimes you will feel why Gill is not in the squad, there is nothing wrong that he did,” said Jaffer.

The Fazilka-born cricketer scored 108 runs in India’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand last month, where the second and third ODI was washed out. “He did really well in New Zealand and with whatever other opportunities he got. But we have seen in the recent past that a few players miss out and get dropped and this is now going to put them in another dilemma,” he added

“Who is their third and fourth openers and what to do with Shikhar Dhawan. He is the senior opener and he has had a bad series. They would like to back him due to the kind of record he has. That No.3 and No.4 options for openers will be a question mark,” the Punjab franchise batting coach said.