With the World Cup only six months away, Shubman Gill’s return to T20 vice-captaincy suggests that Indian cricket may soon return to its tried-and-true one-captain-for-all-formats strategy.
Rohit Sharma continues as India’s ODI captain and Suryakumar Yadav will lead in next year’s T20 World Cup, but the ‘Crown Prince’ Shubman Gill appears just six months away from being ‘crowned’ the new king of Indian cricket.
At least when it comes to leadership issues, the present selection committee agrees with head coach Gautam Gambhir that this is how things should be.
Gill will therefore likely captain India in the 2027 World Cup in South Africa and Zimbabwe as well as the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, which will mark cricket’s first appearance in the quadrennial extravaganza, if he is fit and available.
But Sanju Samson’s position in the starting eleven appears to be in jeopardy, which is bad news for him. That is the big picture of the Asia Cup team selection.
With Rishabh Pant set to return for the T20 World Cup, the road ahead looks challenging for Samson.
Although Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of the selectors, did not respond to the question on all-format captaincy, he did vote in favor of Gill being at the top of the order.
“Gill’s form in England was something we expected but he exceeded it all,” Agarkar said.
Although the coach and captain of the team make the final decision about the best playing eleven, Agarkar made it clear that Gill will be included in the starting lineup, just as he had been before Test obligations kept him occupied.
“There are more options (for top order) now and Shubman has been in a great form anyway. When they get to Dubai, they can decide on the playing XI according to the opposition and the conditions,” Agarkar said.
But since Samson’s game is limited to the top three positions, there will never be a place for him in the future.
Although he is still going through tryouts with Yashasvi Jaiswal in reserves, Abhishek Sharma’s spot is currently set. Gill is at the other end of a left-right combination.
At a strike rate of over 150, the Gujarat Titans captain amassed over 600 runs in the last IPL.
“Sanju was playing because Shubman and Yashasvi were not available at that point (and) so was Abhishek. (But) Abhishek’s performances clearly make it hard to leave him out. Plus, his bowling (left arm spin) is handy.
“Like I said, he (Gill) was (the) vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket. That was after the last World Cup so even at that point, clearly we were thinking along those lines. Now that he’s available, at least he (Suryakumar) has two options.
“It’s their headache to pick the batting line-up (now); ours was to pick the 15 and so. But we’ve got some real depth as far as T20 cricket is concerned and we are very happy with it,” Agarkar said.
Samson can only be included if Tilak Varma is dropped from the starting lineup; depending on the situation, he may be placed at No. 3 or No. 4.
However, Tilak is a left-hander who is among the best fielders in this setup and can occasionally bowl off-spin.
By playing Samson, the batting lineup would appear one-dimensional because there would be three right-handers from No. 3 to No. 5: Samson, Surya, and Hardik Pandya.
An additional all-round player might be added to the team by using Jitesh Sharma as a finisher and keeper.
Jitesh may be a stopgap option, but the real story will begin once the talismanic Rishabh Pant regains full fitness and gets going.
So where does that leave Samson, who is also expected to part ways with Rajasthan Royals this season? Perhaps once again vying only for the second wicketkeeper’s slot in his second successive T20 World Cup.
