Shastri on Sunday had a long one-on-one chat with Gill after the latter's batting session.
Ashwin has been a regular member of the Indian side in the longest format of the game but the spinner last represented played an international limited-overs match back in 2017. His last T20I game came against West Indies in July 2017 while his last ODI match was against the same side in June 2017.
A new look Kings XI Punjab under Ravichandran Ashwin will take on Delhi Daredevils in their opening encounter of IPL-2018 here tomorrow, as both sides look to begin the T20 tournament on a winning note.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's aim was to take the game against Kings XI Punjab deep and ensure a top-two finish for defending champions Chennai Super Kings once he realised that Lokesh Rahul's blitzkrieg has sealed the deal for the home team, in Mohali, on Sunday.
'I keep my mindset quite positive. Just look to score runs, and not think pitch is doing this or that. I play with courage. I am not afraid to get out.'
While wickets were falling, at the other end, Dhawan stayed cool and grew in confidence
Batting at No 3, the West Indian took time to get his eye in before blasting a quickfire 53 from 45 balls to put Kings XI on course for victory.
Sam Curran is now looking forward to turn out for three-time winners CSK.
Shami will be given adequate rest in between matches, said Kings XI Punjab coach Mike Hesson
Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting has promised his premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin that he would speak to the ICC about imposing a run-penalty on teams whose batsmen back up too far at the non-striker's end.
The former India pace spearhead is happy how the team has shaped up in the four games so far, winning two convincingly and losing one to RCB in Super Over and other against CSK in the final over of the match.
The unheralded Varun Chakravarthy's whopping Rs 8.40 crore deal at the Indian Premier League auctions
Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore have won only three games out of 10 in IPL-12 so far.
Among the Indians, while Robin Uthappa was bought by Rajasthan Royals for 3 crore, Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari went unsold.
In India, 29 positive cases have been reported so far, including 16 Italian tourists. New Zealand Cricket said that the cricket board is in constant touch with the country's health, foreign affairs and sports ministry to get regular updates which will ensure health safety for its players.
Rajneesh Gupta brings you all the numbers from the just concluded IPL-12.
Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin Wednesday said he would take the blame for the no-ball incident against Kings XI Punjab which cost his side the IPL match in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Will get money's worth if Gayle, Yuvi can win even two games, says Sehwag
IPL auction moved from Bengaluru to Jaipur
'I had got good feedback from the New Zealand series and the Indian team coaches had also said look to work on these things. So, whatever they had said, we worked on it and it is reaping benefits today.'
The tournament, which has been shifted to the UAE due to five million plus COVID cases in India, is a 'TV-only event', expected to be lapped up by all and sundry who crave for cricket and Bollywood in equal measure during prime time.
Kings XI retains Chris Gayle. Steve Smith returns to the IPL. Delhi Daredevils sacks 10 players!
Hashim Amla's superb 103 enabled Punjab put up a competitive 198 for 4 in 20 overs but Buttler made a mockery of the target with Mumbai Indians knocking off the runs in only 15.3 overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to consolidate their gains when they take on beleaguered Kings XI Punjab .
Kings XI Punjab would aim to keep the winning run going when they take on South Africa's Cape Cobras in a Group B encounter of the Champions League in Mohali on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians seamer Jasprit Bumrah helped his side beat Kings XI Punjab in an IPL match in Mumbai.
Earlier in the tournament, Punjab got off to a similar situation in their first game against Delhi Capitals where they failed to score a single run in the last ball and the match went to Super Over where Punjab lost the game.
The gravity of the situation hit Tajinder Singh Dhillon hard when he happened to tune in to a news channel one evening a week ago.
Delhi's performance at home is woeful, but having registered a win after two consecutive losses at the Kotla, the Shreyas Iyer-led outfit is high on confidence.
India vice-captain Rohit Sharma's right leg muscle spasm, five days ahead of the World Cup squad announcement, will keep the national selection committee worried.
'With the way we were going, we came to run-a-ball and to lose from there, really disappointing. We didn't play smart cricket.'
St Lucia Zouks is one of the six teams competing in the CPL. The team is led by former West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
Kolkata Knight Riders stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League on the back of a convincing 28-run win over Kings XI Punjab, with pacer Umesh Patel hogging the limelight with a fine display of fast bowling.
Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Sandeep Sharma, who took two wickets, blamed the moisture on the wicket and heavy dew later on for their defeat.
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter at Mohali on Saturday. Following three horrendous seasons, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table. There has been no standout performer as such but contributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid's men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.
Chennai Super Kings will look to continue their winning streak when they lock horns with Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), in Mohali, on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians paid Rs one crore for Yuvraj Singh in a last-minute buy and franchise owner Akash Ambai called it their biggest steal in the tournament's 11-year-old history.
England's richest cricketer Ben Stokes will now skip his country's two-match ODI series against Ireland.
Admitting that T20 is a game where bowlers often find themselves at the receiving end, Sri Lankan all-rounder Thisara Perera feels that its good to have a few variations in order to surprise the batsmen.
