Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has praised Shubman Gill for bouncing back from a middling run in the Asia Cup 2025 and playing a key knock in the first T20I against Australia. While saying that Gill couldn’t have been questioned after the kind of year he has had, Chopra added that a few questions were being raised as he had replaced Sanju Samson at the top of the order in the shortest format as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Chopra said, “There was no question about his class, and in my opinion, there was no question about his form as well. There was a slight backdrop about the Asia Cup. Sanju Samson was opening. You have been made the vice-captain in T20 cricket, which means you will open now. So Sanju Samson, who has scored three centuries, won’t get a chance.”

“So suddenly you start asking questions. If you write a new story, there are some subtexts to it, there are some questions. It was about how he would move forward after the middling performance in the Asia Cup. Otherwise, no one has the right to ask questions after the 2025 Shubman Gill has had,” he further added.

However, Aakash Chopra also opined on whether Shubman Gill had done anything different from what he did in the preceding ODI series against Australia as well.

“Actually, nothing has changed. He was trying to bat like this even in the ODIs. Runs weren’t scored, but whatever deliveries he played, he looked very comfortable and convincing even in ODI cricket. Your name is written at times on an odd delivery, sometimes you are trying to run too fast, and you get out in the process,” he added.

“He is at the top of his game currently, whether you see it mentally, physically, technically, or even tactically. 2025 has been Shubman Gill’s year. He needed to score runs because if he hadn’t scored runs here and hadn’t scored runs in two more matches, you and I would have been saying that Sanju was also doing well, so why couldn’t you have continued opening with Sanju Samson?” Aakash Chopra concluded.