CUTTACK: As India take the field in Cuttack on Tuesday in the first T20I against South Africa, all eyes will be on vice-captain Shubman Gill. The 26-year-old, who walked off the field during the first Test at the Eden Gardens after a neck spasm, missed the remainder of the series and the ODIs before making a comeback for the shortest format.
On the eve of the first match, skipper Suryakumar Yadav confirmed that Gill and the other comeback man Hardik Pandya are 'healthy and fit' to play. Pandya, coming back from a left quadriceps injury, has already played a couple of Syed Mushtaq Ali matches while Gill will be playing his first game since the injury occurred. And it showed in the preparation as the vice-captain trained close to two hours on Monday.
The attention that Gill garners is not just about his comeback but also his place in the batting-order. Till the Asia Cup in September, Gill was not a regular in the T20I set-up. However, he was made vice-captain to Yadav after a successful Test tour in England as skipper before replacing Rohit Sharma in the ODI leadership. It meant opener Sanju Samson was moved to middle-order with Gill partnering Abhishek Sharma.
Yadav made it clear once again that it was Gill who opened the batting in Sri Lanka post the 2024 T20 World Cup and has only come back to take his spot. "In terms of Sanju, yes, when he came into the circuit, he batted higher up the order. He did really well before when he opened the innings, but Shubman had played before him in the Sri Lanka series. And so he deserved to take that spot. But we gave Sanju opportunities. He was ready to bat at any number, which actually is good to see any player being very flexible. So that's one thing which I have told all the batters. Other than openers, everyone has to be very flexible," Yadav told reporters at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Monday.
Since the 2024 T20 WC and 2025 Asia Cup, Gill batted in seven innings, scored 243 runs while averaging 40.5 and striking at 129.25. However, since being named vice-captain, with potentially set to take over post the T20 WC next year, Gill scored 259 runs from 12 innings at 28.77 average and 143.09 SR. The next ten matches India have at home in the lead up to the T20 World Cup give Gill ample time to set the record straight and make the spot his own.
And even as Gill tries to impose himself as an aggressor at the top, Yadav said that India have a settled team will not be trying too many things over the next couple of months. "Our 2026 T20 World Cup preparation began right after we won the T20 World Cup in 2024... Our preparation is similar. The preparation started after the T20 World Cup 2024 got over. Since then, we have been trying new things and everything is working for us. I feel in the last 5-6 series which we have played, we have tried and played with a similar combination. We have not changed too much... Everything is going well. We wanted to continue the same way. The plan for the series is to play good cricket... There are some things that we are doing right. So, why should we change that?
"There is still two months to go for the World Cup and we have ten T20Is against two good teams. Now the focus is on this game and series after which we play New Zealand then the World Cup. Once we are closer, we will talk about that. Now, it is all going good," said Yadav.
