Former England cricketer Monty Panesar has hailed India men’s coach Gautam Gambhir for ‘sending a message’ to the stars of his set-up, including T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, by dropping vice-captain Shubman Gill from the squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Gill was equal parts underwhelming and unlucky (there were a couple of matches where he got starts, but rain interrupted) since being promoted to Suryakumar’s deputy and made the first-choice opener in September. Vice-captains aren’t dropped often in Indian cricket, even less so for a player like Gill, who leads the Test and ODI teams, is his side’s captain in the IPL, and was earmarked to become the all-format skipper.
“Gautam Gambhir has also sent a message that no matter how big a player
you are, if your form is not good, I am not afraid, I will drop you. I think that is a good message, because all the big players in India will think about it, that it should not be that next time it is our turn. You know, maybe he could even drop Suryakumar Yadav. So it is a good message,” Panesar said in an interview with Kadak.
The former spinner said that with the call, Gambhir also showed that he was not ‘afraid’ of the big calls.
“And I had been saying this earlier as well that Gautam Gambhir will take the right decision, the right decision for the team. And if he feels that whether you are a big player or a small player, if you are not in good form, he will not select you. I had a bit of a doubt earlier too that maybe Shubman Gill’s form has not been good. And Gautam Gambhir is the kind of leader who is not afraid; he will take big decisions. He has made a big decision now, and I think it is the right one,” he added.
While the World Cup squad has been picked, Suryakumar has five more games against New Zealand in January to find his form back.
/images/ppid_59c68470-image-176642753366534019.webp)
