Short of runs but quality player: Agarkar on Gill omission from T20

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar on Saturday said Shubman Gill’s recent lack of runs, coupled with team combination compulsions, led to his omission from India’s squad for the T20 World Cup.

Gill, who was recently appointed as the national T20 vice-captain, could not fire in the recent home series against Sri Lanka, making 4, 0 and 28 before missing the fifth match because of an injury.

“We know what a quality player he is, but, perhaps short of a little bit of runs at the moment,” said Agarkar in the press conference for India’s squad announcement. “(He was) unfortunate to miss out on the last World Cup as well because we went to a different combination. But it’s the combinations more than anything else. Two keepers at the top, that’s the way we want to try.” “Someone has to miss out when you pick (squad of) 15 and, unfortunately, it’s Gill at this point,” Agarkar added.

Agarkar stressed that they wanted to have an extra wicketkeeper at the top and had to sacrifice a pure batter for that.

In this instance, Ishan Kishan, who had a wonderful run at the just-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, found the favour ahead of Jitesh Sharma, who has been used more as a lower-order quick-hitter.

“He bats at the top in white-ball cricket. He’s been in good form. He’s played before for India. He has a double hundred in one-day cricket. He wasn’t in the Indian team because there’s a Rishabh Pant and a Dhruv Jurel ahead. They’re two pretty good players. So, it’s nothing to do with anything else,” Agarkar said. “He (Kishan) bats at the top, Sanju bats at the top and that’s the combination that we look at, obviously, Abhishek Sharma is there. When you’re looking at constructing a team, you’re looking for the right kind of backups. In case, in a tournament, there’s an injury or loss of form and we felt he’s the best candidate at this point,” he added.

India skipper Suryakumar Yadav too hinted at the necessity of a combination as the reason behind Gill’s omission.

“Post the T20 World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka, I was appointed the captain for the first time. We had scored 200 runs in the first game and Gill played a good part in that also. It’s not about his form or anything. It’s just about the combination right now,” he said.

“We wanted to have a ‘keeper at the top. We wanted to have someone like Rinku Singh or maybe a Washington Sundar later on to have a different combination, so that’s why we brought in that extra wicketkeeper at the top.” “And it’s not about the form. It’s about quality. He’s a terrific player. There’s no question about that. Right now, the situation is that we need a keeper to bat up the order to have 2-3 good combinations which can win us the World Cup,” the captain added. (PTI)

Suryakumar also said he will continue to bat at No 4 with Tilak Varma one position before him.

“We’ve come to a point me, Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir) and all the other batters that left-right is now (a combination) which we’re not looking for. If you see yesterday’s game, Hardik (Pandya) batted really well against the left-arm spinner,” he said.

“But then we’ve fixed that (No 3) position for Tilak. I want to bat at No 4 and then 5, 6, whatever we have comfort with. Hardik can do it or (Shivam Dube) can do it,” he added.

Suryakumar also did not read too much into his extended lean phase, and expressed confidence of rediscovering his explosive self well in time for the upcoming T20 World Cup.

Suryakumar has not fired this whole year in T20s, averaging under 14 this year in 21 matches and his form has been a talking point ahead of next year’s ICC showpiece, where India will be looking to defend its title, starting February 7.

“I am sure everyone has seen this in their respective careers. I know what to do. I know where things are going wrong. I have got some time to work on it. We have the New Zealand series coming up and then the important T20 World Cup. You will definitely see Surya the batter,” he said.

The 35-year-old admitted that playing in a home World Cup could be a challenge, but one that he enjoys.

“It is a good responsibility for me, a good challenge and a good motivation to play in front of the home crowd. We tried, we did the same thing in the 2023 ODI World Cup and what we felt is (something) I can’t forget that,” he added.