Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag believes Shubman Gill is lucky to be on the reserves list of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad considering his poor form in IPL 2024 as well. The veteran also suggested that KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad deserve to be there before Gill, given that their form is relatively better than Gill.
Gill, who won the Orange Cap for his 890 runs in IPL 2023, has been out of form this season. He managed to score only 322 runs in 11 matches at an average of 32.20, with a couple of half-centuries as well. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag has urged Gill not to take his spot for
granted as well.
“I think he’s lucky that his name is in the T20 World Cup reserves. KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not even in that. That’s a good point and he should be motivated by that. Next time, he should not let his place go once he gets a chance. He should focus on scoring runs at a good strike rate so he doesn’t get replaced,” he added.
The Gujarat Titans captain also made only two off seven deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday at the
Chinnaswamy Stadium. Sehwag also cited the example of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, stating how they were consistent.
“In my days, we had Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman. It doesn’t matter how many runs the other guys scored, these guys didn’t go out because they never stopped scoring runs. How will you drop them if they keep scoring runs? They never gave a reason to get dropped. This is what Shubman Gill has to learn. Once he returns to Indian team and plays regularly post the World Cup, he shouldn’t let such an opportunity arise again. Improve your skills and score big, because big scores will eventually save you,” he concluded.
