Former India player turned Aakash Chopra has added that Shubman Gill cannot rest on his past shows and needs to deliver consistently to retain his place in India’s T20I side. India will take on the West Indies in the third T20I of the five-match series in Providence, Guyana, on Tuesday, August 8. They faced defeats in the first two games, with Gill contributing just 10 runs in his two knocks as well.
While talking about this on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Shubman Gill will have to score runs. He played extremely well in the IPL but here it seems like he is just forcing the issue a bit too much. He is trying to play a big shot off every delivery but that’s not the Shubman Gill we know. Your place in the Indian team is like a rented house, you haven’t bought it.
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He further added: “If you don’t pay the rent for four-five matches, you are asked to vacate the house. Everyone gets that much opportunity only. If someone has paid rent for six months because he has scored a lot of runs, he gets a little leeway. Shubman Gill is in that category but it cannot be permanent.”
However, Shubman Gill enjoyed good success across formats in the first few months of 2023, which also included his stupendous performance in this year’s edition of the Indian Premier League. However, he has scored just one fifty in his last 10 international innings and has crossed the 20-run mark on only two other occasions as well. Aakash Chopra also added that Yashasvi Jaiswal is a good option to replace the underperforming Ishan Kishan as Shubman Gill’s opening partner as well.
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“Should Yashasvi (Jaiswal) be played? It is a very tempting option. He can be a straight swap for Ishan Kishan, a left-hander for a left-hander. If you see Ishan Kishan’s last 10 to 12 matches, his performances have not been that good. However, I still have a small opinion. I feel if you have played him the first match, play three consecutive at least. Take a call after that. God forbid, if the third match also doesn’t go well, make him stand at the back of the queue. Some will say two matches are enough but I feel three should be given,” he concluded.
