The audition for the ICC T20 World Cup squad is running parallel to the ongoing Indian Premier League season in 2024. According to reports, by the end of April, the Indian cricket team will be made official. Shubman Gill, who was the leading run-getter in IPL 2023, announced his arrival in the 17th season of the league with a brilliant unbeaten knock of 89, despite losing the match against the Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Gill is among the players on the list for the top-order position in the T20I side for India. However, irrespective of his knock against the Punjab Kings, former cricketer Simon Doull believes that the captain of the Gujarat Titans does not fit into the T20 World Cup squad, as he sent rather “KL Rahul” advice to BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
Gill has amassed 335 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of 147.57 since his debut in the international format; this comes with a fifty and a ton. He also pulled off an 890-run season in IPL 2023, where the opener of the Gujarat Titans smashed three centuries and four fifties at a strike rate of 157.80.
The direct competition for Gill’s spot in the T20 World Cup team is against Yashasvi Jaiswal. Yashasvi brings the left-handed factor at the top of the line-up and also has the ability to go after the opposition attack from ball one. Since his debut in mid-2023 in 16 innings, Jaiswal has scored 502 runs in T20Is for India at 161.93, laced with a ton and four fifties.
The impressive numbers of Jaiswal in the format also include an impressive 625-run season for the Rajasthan Royals in the last edition of the IPL, put Gill in the fray to bag the back-up opener slot. Doull feels that the place should be reserved for Rahul, who can also keep wickets, and will be a “real bonus” for the team.
When asked if Gill made the T20 World Cup squad after his knock of 89 against Punjab, Doull started off by saying, “Not yet. No, no, no.”
Doull further said, “He’s got a, you know, I mean, that spot up the top when you take in a World Cup 15. It should be 18, in my opinion. And that is a real bonus. That replacement for top-order batter he keeps, Shubman doesn’t keep. And if ahead of Jaiswal he can’t make the side, Rohit and Virat at the moment, he probably won’t go.”
In April, with still 25 days left, where Gujarat plays six more matches in IPL 2024, Gill will certainly have his chances to prove this statement of Doull wrong and make it to the 15-man World Cup squad for India.
