• Source:JND

IND vs SA 2nd T20I: It looks like the Indian team management has run out of ways to back Shubman Gill's selection in the T20I team, as he has been continuously slammed for his performances. This T20I series against South Africa has only intensified the discussion as the host couldn't chase the target in the second T20I, which raised questions about Gill's form and why the management is continuously backing the out-of-form batter.

Gill got out for a duck in the second T20I and had scored just four runs in the first match, and that extended his lean patch in this format. After being made the vice-captain in this format, he had scored 263 runs after playing in 14 matches at an average of 23.90 and a strike rate of 142.93, where he hasn't smashed a single this year and has failed to live up to the expectations.

Ryan ten Doeschate, who is the assistant coach of the Indian team, left everyone stunned by saying that the pressure of being the vice captain in this format has affected Gill's performance.

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“Taking on the captaincy the way he did in England, and how well he led and how much pride he took in that performance, I think an element of that carried over into what he wanted to do in the T20 side,” Doeschate told reporters in the post-match press conference.

“So, if anything, he was too caring and maybe a little bit too tight,” he added.

Gill had a dream run after he became India's Test captain, as he had scored 754 runs after playing in five Test matches, but his becoming the vice-captain in T20Is left everyone surprised. He returned to the national T20I team in the Asia Cup 2025 as the team management had already ruined their well-maintained partnership between Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, who had played a huge role in their aggressive approach after the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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He was seen struggling to score runs from the get-go and raised questions as to whether he would fit into their new approach, one where Samson was perfectly playing the role of an opener.

Samson had scored 417 runs after playing in 13 matches at a staggering strike rate of 182, which also includes three hundreds. At the same time, Gill has scored 506 runs after playing in 21 matches at a strike rate of 136.

Since Gill has struggled to score runs, he is under pressure to prove his worth. Samson has been snubbed from the T20I squad after failing to perform as a middle-order batter.

'GILL DOESN'T HAVE TO JUSTIFY HIS PLACE'

Doeschate revealed that he saw better signs in the series against Australia, where he scored more than 30 runs twice, and emphasised that the team management doesn't want to increase his workload.

“As I said, towards the back end of Australia, the talks were around freeing up a little bit more, trying to relinquish that responsibility — certainly in that capacity where you feel like it is all about you and you really need to justify your place in the team,” he concluded.

Gill is under immense pressure since he is already the captain of the other two formats and the IPL team as well. It will be interesting to see how long the team management will ignore the criticism and keep Samson out if Gill still struggles.

He will once again be under everyone's radar when both teams face each other for the third T20I on Sunday.


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