‘Will be tempted…’ – Wasim Jaffer upset with Shubman Gill, calls for another opener as replacement

India and Sri Lanka faced off against each other in the second T20I of the three-match series on January 5, Thursday and it was the Lankan Lions who came out on top on the back of a stupendous knock from their skipper Dasun Shanaka who helped them put on a massive total of 206 on board with his quickfire 22-ball 56. 

India got off to a poor start with the likes of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill scoring 2 and 5 runs respectively, much to the surprise of the Indian fans. Wasim Jaffer, who took cognizance of the same, said that the right-handed batter must be dropped in order to make way for Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

Further, Jaffer expressed his displeasure over Gill failing to capitalize on the opportunities that he has got in the shortest format of the game so far. Notably, the right-handed batter managed to score only 7 runs in the first T20I that was played on Tuesday, which the Men in Blue won by a small margin of 2 runs. 

He has been disappointing: Wasim Jaffer

Further, the former Indian cricketer opened up on Arshdeep Singh and said that he would back the left-armer despite the latter conceding five no-balls during the game, going for 37 runs in his spell of 2 overs. Jaffer said that he would be wary of making any changes to the squad apart from replacing Gill with Gaikwad. 

“I think Ruturaj Gaikwad should get a chance. He has scored a lot of runs (in domestic cricket). He was outstanding in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Shubman Gill, on the other hand, hasn’t been in great touch in the previous two matches. He has been disappointing. I will be tempted to play Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has been warming the benches for quite some time now,” Jaffer was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo. 

“In the bowling department, I will back Arshdeep Sinch even though he had a forgetful day (in the 2nd T20I). You need to back him in this situation so that his confidence doesn’t take a further hit. Apart from the one change in the batting department, I don’t see any other changes in the XI,” he added.