Shubman Gill is a generational talent, but India shouldn't force fit him in the T20I XI

Shubman Gill entered the England Test series with plenty to prove and even more to lose. An average of 35 from 32 Tests, a new batting position that did not have a vacancy for the last 33 years, and a new leadership role that not many were convinced he deserved. Six weeks later, he emerged from the gruelling campaign with most boxes ticked and brand value significantly enhanced.

Also read: Obscenely gifted and irrationally famous, Shubman Gill is Test cricket's new figurehead

Now, he has a lot more to gain. Including a potential return to the T20I setup for the Asia Cup, not least as the vice-captain.

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As the troubled tournament draws closer, an increasing number of reports suggest Gill is being looked at as the deputy for Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20I captain, despite having last played in the format more than a year back. If there’s any truth to them, it would be quite on-brand with Indian cricket’s obsession to engineer all-format stars.

But do they need Gill to be one?

Commercially, maybe, since that’s the business model Indian cricket has always followed. On the field, maybe not.

India have built a highly successful T20I side in the last couple of years, losing only three out of the 31 matches they have played since their 2024 T20 World Cup victory. Much of that success has come on the back of a revamped style of top-order batting more attuned to the demands of the modern game. Despite being the generational talent that he is, that style does not come naturally to Gill.

With a game based on technical purity and straight lines, Gill belongs to the ‘anchor’ category of T20 batters. Ever since he started in the middle order for KKR in the IPL, his scoring rate has been a contentious topic. In the last few seasons, Gill has worked on that, improving markedly both in terms of consistency and rate of scoring, as evidenced by his average of 50.4 and strike rate of 154.8 in the IPL since the start of 2023. But India’s T20I top-order operates at a different level.

After the 2024 T20 World Cup, India’s top three has collectively scored at a rate of 173.1, nearly 16 points above the second-best Full Member side, England. Excluding Gill’s seven knocks at 129.2 in that timeframe, the top-three strike rate soars up to 181.3.

Individually, Abhishek Sharma (average 33.4, strike rate 193.8), Sanju Samson (average 32.1, strike rate 179.7), and Tilak Varma (average 161.5, strike rate 185.6) have given India consistently explosive starts, while also going on to make a total of seven hundreds. Suryakumar Yadav, who relinquished his No.3 spot for Varma, has also maintained a similar standard of scoring, striking at 176.7 when batting in the top three in this period.

Also read: Abhishek Sharma's marriage of technique and tempo makes him the dream T20 opener

T20I numbers of India's top three batters since July 1, 2024

Gill can consistently score big, as his 650- and 890-run IPL seasons indicate. But he is yet to prove that he can consistently score as quickly. And India, with their relatively deep batting line-up, do not need an opener to bat through the innings as much as Gujarat Titans, with their nearly non-existent middle order, did.

What India need from their top-order batters, rather, are boundary-filled, high-scoring powerplays. Abhishek, Samson, Varma, and Suyakumar have collectively scored at a strike rate of 158 in the first six overs for India since last year’s T20 World Cup, hitting a boundary every 3.65 balls. Gill, in the same time period, has struck at 138 with a boundary only every 4.72 balls across all T20s.

If at all India need to look at other top-order options as backups or replacements for one of the incumbents, they have Yashasvi Jaiswal at their disposal. The attacking gameplay that India have adopted in the shortest format comes more naturally to the left-hander, who strikes at 151 in all T20s, than it does to Gill.

Another factor worth considering before plugging Gill (or even Jaiswal) in the T20I XI is that if the move comes at the expense of Samson, India would have to find a wicketkeeper who can bat in the middle order. Jitesh Sharma and Dhruv Jurel are contenders, but are far from established in the national setup. KL Rahul is another candidate, but he too, has been out of the T20I team for nearly three years now.

In short, the ripple effects of force-fitting Gill in the T20I XI would be felt across the entire batting order, all while either requiring Gill to develop into something he is not, or India to let go of a successful strategy. Neither of which would be an ideal scenario, especially when the alternative is to just let a well-oiled machine keep running smoothly.

For almost the entirety of the period between the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and the latest one in 2024, India have had all-format captains in MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma. After a year-long reign of Suryakumar in T20Is, they can sense an opportunity to go back to their comfort zone of unified leadership and a singular face of Indian cricket in Gill. In ODIs, he has already established himself as the heir to Rohit. Phasing him into the shortest format would seem tempting too. But the risks of re-integrating him into the T20I setup outweigh the rewards.

A successful England tour might have cemented Gill as the face of India’s Test future. But that doesn’t mean he has to be part of their T20I present. The two aren’t – and shouldn’t – be the same. And that’s okay.