'Don't be surprised if Shubman Gill ...'

‘Don’t be surprised if he not only comes back into the team, but he also takes over the captaincy’

Shubman Gill being left out of India’s T20I World Cup squad sent shockwaves through the cricketing fraternity, but former Australia skipper Michael Clarke feels the move is temporary and sees Gill emerging as India’s T20I captain after the ICC event.

The former Australian captain feels the BCCI’s call was driven purely by short-term considerations, with the World Cup firmly in focus. Gill has scored 869 runs in 36 T20Is but managed just 291 runs in his last 15 matches, prompting the selectors to revert to Sanju Samson at the top of the order.

Gill, who was vice-captain of the T20I side, was the most high-profile absentee when the national selectors named a 15-member squad for the global showpiece in India and Sri Lanka starting February 7.

Clarke backs Gill move

“He might still be (in contention). I don’t think that changes too much. I think the squads needed to be announced by a certain time, and he wasn’t batting as well as he would like. India’s got so many opening batting options; he’s not the captain of the team at this stage, so I think they pretty much made the decision. They wanted these couple of warm-up games to be a real focus on what they are doing in the World Cup. There were questions about his form. They made that decision specifically in the lead-up to the World Cup,” Clarke said in the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

Gill tipped to take over T20I captaincy

Despite the setback, Clarke remains convinced Gill’s long-term prospects in T20 internationals -- including leadership -- remain intact.

With the BCCI keen on moving towards a single captain across formats and Suryakumar Yadav’s form under scrutiny, Clarke believes Gill fits the blueprint going forward.

“I think after the World Cup, don’t be surprised if he not only comes back into the team, but he also takes over the captaincy. He’s an unbelievable player; just not playing his best cricket at the moment. I don’t think there are too many concerns moving forward with Shubman Gill. India has made it clear we are 100 per cent focused on this World Cup, and we want to win it,” he added.