Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra offered a theory on why Indian vice-captain Shubman Gill played the way he did in the first T20I against South Africa.
Gill threw his hands at a delivery pitched outside off and then skipped down the track, resulting in a premature dismissal.
Coming straight from rehabilitation after an unfortunate neck injury, Gill did not seem inclined to take a few deliveries to settle in. He faced only two balls before getting out. While he boasts impressive numbers in the IPL for the Gujarat Titans, his shot selection for India on this occasion was well below par.
“What is Shubman Gill trying to do? I ask this question because it seems like he doesn’t play like this, but is trying to play like that. Why would he be doing that? It seems like he is too hasty to hit. The way he got out in Cuttack, he hit a four off the first ball, and then he jumped out and hit the next ball,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Gill had not been playing T20Is for some time, while Sanju Samson was in sensational form, thrashing bowlers consistently. When Gill returned for the Asia Cup 2025, Samson was removed as an opener, and Gill was named deputy to Suryakumar Yadav.
Chopra believes this situation has affected both Samson and Gill. With Samson posting a strike rate over 180 and hitting three hundreds before being replaced, expectations were sky-high. Now, with Gill stepping into that role, he faces pressure to match those performances. So far, since his return, Gill has not scored a fifty and has yet to reach a strike rate of 140.
“What could be the reasons behind that? He is feeling slightly obliged. Sanju Samson was the player who was opening before him. He used to score runs at a strike rate of 175. He scored three centuries as well. Of course, he got out early as well, but has three centuries to his name and a strike rate of 175. You can’t take that away from Samson. India was also running close to 250-275. He is feeling the pressure of two things. Firstly, because Samson plays like that, he too should play like that because he has come in his place, and that is always spoken about,” said Chopra.
It’s important to remember that Gill was not dropped but rested to allow him to prioritise Test cricket. This was not his fault. However, social media focuses only on scores. The context doesn’t matter, if you deliver, you get praise and if you don’t, you face criticism.
“Social media must be on fire today as well, although you have to cut him some slack because he was playing his first competitive game since the neck sprain he had at the Eden Gardens. So you can be slightly undercooked. However, social media won’t agree with that,” said Chopra.
