Even as Shubman Gill processes his surprise omission from India’s T20 World Cup squad.
The star batter has suffered another setback — exclusion from Aakash Chopra’s alternative 15-man squad as well. The snub, according to the former India opener, effectively places Gill outside the country’s top 30 T20 cricketers.
Chopra, now a leading pundit, undertook a light-hearted exercise of picking a squad from players overlooked by the Ajit Agarkar-led senior selection committee. In the process, he took a pointed dig at the prevailing narrative around Gill’s role as an anchor in T20Is.
Explaining Gill’s absence, Chopra said that if the Indian team believed an accumulator was no longer required in the current T20 setup, he saw no reason to include one either.
“You will ask why I have not picked Shubman Gill. When the Indian team doesn’t need an anchor, why will I have him as an anchor? Shubman Gill is the only anomaly,” Chopra said after announcing his squad, which included Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shreyas Iyer.
“We have left him for Test cricket and ODI cricket. Currently, according to the narrative that has been created, we have not picked him.
We should have picked him, but we haven’t.
Many people say I was doing PR work for Gill. Take it — I have not picked him,” he added.
Gill’s omission from the official T20 World Cup squad was one of the biggest shocks from Saturday’s selection meeting. The vice-captain was dropped, while wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan earned a recall following his title-winning century for Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final earlier this month. Agarkar later clarified that Gill’s quality was not in doubt, but the team management prioritised having a backup wicketkeeper.
India will enter the T20 World Cup with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma as first-choice openers, with Kishan named as reserve.
Gill was recalled to the T20I side during the Asia Cup, a move that led to the break-up of the successful Samson–Abhishek opening combination. Appointed vice-captain, Gill’s inclusion came under scrutiny as his relatively conservative approach was seen to disrupt the team balance. Samson was pushed into the middle order despite scoring three hundreds in quick succession as an opener, while Rinku Singh’s opportunities as a finisher were also reduced.
Despite sustained backing from the selectors and coaching staff, Gill failed to cement his spot. Across 15 T20Is during the experiment, he scored 291 runs at an average of 24.25 and a strike rate of 137.26.
Aakash Chopra’s alternative T20 World Cup squad
Playing group:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant, Jitesh Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bench:
Mohammed Shami, KL Rahul, Vipraj Nigam, Shashank Singh
Chopra named Jaiswal and Gaikwad as his opening pair, with Pant and Jitesh Sharma as wicketkeepers. KL Rahul was included as a reserve, though Chopra clarified he would not feature in the playing XI.
Among the more surprising selections were Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya. Despite both being out of recent T20I plans, Chopra backed them based on their IPL performances for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
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