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‘Unfortunately, Karun Nair wasn’t able to…’: Shubman Gill after Vidarbha star denied place in India squad
By SMCS - Feb 5, 2025 8:20 am
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India’s ODI vice-captain, Shubman Gill, shared that it is unfortunate that Karun Nair could not find a place in the squad for the three-match series against England despite his stunning show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Leading Vidarbha in the 50-over tournament, he smashed a whopping 779 runs with a staggering average of 389.5. Nair recorded scores of 112*, 44*,163*, 111*, 112, 122*, 88*, and 27 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as well.

Karun Nair
Karun Nair

Shubman Gill, however, also said that players in the current team have been in good form too. He also gave example ofthe middle-order’s form in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where India reached the final as well. Hence, Gill believes that the current team need to be stuck with as India have played just three ODIs after the 2023 World Cup final against Australia as well.

“He definitely performed very well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But you also need to consider who he would have replaced. The players in the current setup are already doing well. In the ODI World Cup, every middle-order batter scored 400-500 runs. We have just played three ODIs after that as a group,” Shubman Gill told reporters ahead of the first ODI against England. “No one has gotten a longer run. We lost the ODI World Cup final. If you leave out that performance, the entire team has been performing consistently. I think the players who are already there have been performing.”

Team India
Team India

However, Shubman Gill also believes that a good team always back its players as well. He also believes there is no reason to drop any of the current middle-order batter as everyone has done well consistently in ODI as well.

“It is unfortunate that players who have done well in domestic cricket, were not able to find a place in the team. I strongly believe for any player to come in, there should be a place for them as well. It won’t be justice if the player who is already performing, is asked to make the way. Then we won’t be able to form a consistent team. Every good team backs their players, and we don’t want insecurity to creep in within our players,” Shubman Gill concluded.