New era, new leadership, new Gill? Days ago, India's vice-captain had admitted his T20I returns needed improvement. In the series opener in Pallekele, he might have given an early indication of his revamped self.
They say that the first step towards change is awareness.
Shubman Gill sounded refreshingly self-aware when he admitted he needed to improve his T20I game. For a player touted as being the bridge to India’s new world, Gill’s returns in the shortest format haven’t put him among the elite. From 19 T20Is before today, he averaged a tick below 30 and struck at just below 140, and while his overall T20 average is higher, his strike rate is lower. Gill was left out of India’s T20 World Cup squad, with fellow youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal - who strikes at 163 in T20Is - ahead of him in the pecking order. And while the twin retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli paved the way for Gill’s return, he was honest about his T20I form in the lead-up to the Sri Lanka series.
"My performance in T20Is before the World Cup this year wasn't how I had expected it to be," Gill said on Thursday. "Hopefully, going forward, in the upcoming cycle - I think we play 30-40 T20Is [before the 2026 T20 World Cup] - I can improve my performance when it comes to batting, and also [we can improve] as a team."
On Saturday, Gill walked out with Jaiswal to kickstart the first phase of that new India, under a new captain and a new coach. And he made it a point to walk the talk.
"Suryakumar Yadav's elevation to being appointed as the captain of the T20I team is aimed at enhancing the stability of the T20I squad that has lacked any uniformity in the last few years."
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) July 23, 2024
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In sixteen balls, Gill smashed his fastest T20I knock yet, a 16-ball 34 that matched Jaiswal’s beat and tone. It started with a deft steer to the deep point fence, but it was his last three boundaries that highlighted his approach to maximise the powerplay: a lofted, checked drive to the long-off fence, a bottom-handed whip that raced to midwicket, and a slightly uncharacteristic pull forcing a short ball over the ropes.
He fell trying to go for another aerial stroke, getting the toe-end and a lot of air-time but not distance. His dismissal brought an end to the powerplay, but it looked like the start of a new Gill in T20Is.
The T20I opening slot is hot property in India, with more than a few options breathing down the neck of Gill. He’s often been guilty of batting to a tempo slower than his opening peers: in IPL 2024, his strike-rate (147) was ten units slower than from his Orange Cap-winning season last year. In the Zimbabwe series that preceded the Sri Lanka T20Is, he ended with the most runs for India, but his strike rate (125.92) was low, compared to the other opening options around him: Abhishek Sharma (174.64), Jaiswal (165.88) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (158.33).
Under a new leadership, that could all change.
"We have had just two net sessions together, and this is the first time I am working with him," Gill said about coach Gambhir pre-series. "But whatever he has told me during these two sessions, his intent and communication have been very clear - he knows what he wants from which player, and what he thinks will work for each player."
The Pallekele knock might be a short but firm indication that Gill is ready to compete with his T20I peers.
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