The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly worried about Shubman Gill’s physical and mental burden and has asked him to focus on Tests and ODIs for the foreseeable future.
According to news agency PTI, which cited a source on the board, the selectors don’t want ‘a burn-out case’ with Gill, the men’s Test and ODI captain, by making him play all three formats, which explains why he’s not in contention for the T20I team.
Gill was the second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2026 with 732 runs in 16 matches at a strike-rate of 163.02. While Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s impact was much greater, Gill was only 44 runs behind him, while also taking the Gujarat Titans to the final of the league. Yet, the 15-year-old prodigy was picked for India’s
T20I squad against England and Ireland, and Gill wasn’t.
“The selectors are concerned that there shoudn’t be a burn-out case with Gill,” the quoted source said in the report. “Gill has to lead India in nine WTC Tests and also play around 35 odd ODIs before the start of 2027 World Cup. The communication is clear that he needs to be fit for these two ICC assignments. Plus he will play the IPL where he leads Gujarat Titans. There is still a lot of time left for the two marquee T20 events in 2028. For Gill, the focus is on immediate future. Two years from now, no one knows which player will be in what kind of form and fitness. So this is the plan till 2027 ODI World Cup,” he added.
Gill was doing the all-format shift as recently as the final quarter of 2025. He was made the T20I vice-captain in addition to his Test and ODI duties, and returned as the opener for the Asia Cup.
But the stint didn’t go per plan as Gill failed to hit even a half-century. The burnout concerns were there at that time, too, but it was eventually his form (and a bit of misfortune) that led him to be dropped from the squad ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
