Ex-India Star Slams BCCI Over Shubman Gill's Vice-Captaincy, Questions Sanju Samson's Snub
Shubman Gill has been below average in the format and has scored just 263 runs at an average of 23.90 in his last 14 T20I innings.
Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath has questioned the team management over the continuous snub of Sanju Samson from the T20I side. He also slammed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) brass for including Shubman Gill as vice-captain despite the batter's underwhelming stats in the format. Badrinath made the remarks on-air after Gill was dismissed for a golden duck during the second T20I between India and South Africa.
The 45-year-old admitted that it's a bit 'painful' to see Samson warm the bench despite scoring three T20I hundreds in the last 12 months.
"Sanju Samson has scored three hundreds. We are talking about T20 cricket, and he has three hundreds. What more do you want as a player? It is a little painful to see a player who has performed so well warming the bench," said Badrinath, as quoted by India Today.
Gill, on the other hand, has been below average in the format and has scored just 263 runs at an average of 23.90 in his last 14 T20I innings.
"He (Gill) is the vice-captain of the team. I think only a player who is a certainty in the XI can be captain or vice-captain. He has been made vice-captain with these numbers. I can understand if there are no back-ups, but India have no dearth of talent in T20s," he added.
Gill was brought back into the T20 setup with the Asia Cup in September after he led India to two famous Test wins in the drawn five-match series in England.
He replaced Samson at the top but runs have not flown from his bat, raising questions ahead of the T20 World Cup at home in February-March.
Gill, who is India's ODI and Test captain, will aim to silence his doubters when the team faces South Africa in the 3rd T20I on Sunday.
(With Agency Inputs)
India Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team
Sanju Samson