Former India fielding coach R Sridhar has backed Shubman Gill to be India’s all-format leader after Rohit Sharma. Notably, Gill was appointed as the vice captain of the Indian T20I and ODI team for the ongoing tour of Sri Lanka. The youngster pipped several senior players in line such Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul to be awarded the vice captaincy.
Gill recently made his captaincy debut on the tour to Zimbabwe where he led a young team to a 4-1 win in the five match series after losing the first T20I. The opening batter also finished as the highest run scorer of the series with 170 runs to his name from five innings.
Commenting on the recent performances of Gill and Yashasvi Jasiwal, Sridhar said that the duo have justified their selections in both ODIs and T20Is. He further called Gill an apprentice to India captain Rohit Sharma and said that he will lead India in all formats after 2027 ODI World Cup.
“On current form and going back to the potential they showed in the India-England Test series and even in the ODI games, I think these two are nailing their position in two formats, that is T20Is and Tests. Shubman Gill for me is an all-format player and I think he would be the apprentice to captain Rohit Sharma in Test matches and ODIs. I am sure India will see him as the captain post 2027 World Cup in all formats,” told Hindustan Times.
Gill’s terrific career so far
Gill announced his arrival in style in Tests with a breakthrough series against Australia in 2020-21. However, since then he’s been highly inconsistent in the format having 1492 runs to his name from 46 innings at an average of 35.52. However, in ODIs he sealed his place in the team on the back of a stellar run in 2023. The 24-year-old has scored 2322 runs in the format from 46 innings at an average of 59.53 with six hundreds and 13 fifties.
In the 20 T20I matches played so far, Gill has scored 578 runs at an average of 30.42 and a strike rate of 139.27. The 24-year-old has one hundred and three fifties to his name with the highest score of 126*. The Punjab-born cricketer is touted as the prince of Indian cricket and is certainly shown potential to be a star for the future.