Fact-Check: Did R Ashwin Actually Forget To Keep Shubman Gill In India's ODI Top-4 For 2027 World Cup?
A short clip from Ravichandran Ashwin's latest discussion on his YouTube channel is going viral on social media.
A short clip from Ravichandran Ashwin's latest discussion on his YouTube channel is going viral on social media. Many users are claiming that the legendary spinner forgot to mention the name of Shubman Gill while talking about India's top four for the 2027 World Cup. NDTV did a fact-check on the claim and found out that Ashwin did make the mistake. He took the names of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Shreyas Iyer, but realised seconds later in the same video that he forgot to mention Gill. Ashwin quickly apologized for his mistake.
"You are going to South Africa in 2027. If Shreyas Iyer comes back, he is a quality bona fide number 4. You can also use Ruturaj Gaikwad with Rohit, Virat in the top-4. I don't know who will open. I would ideally like... I mean in this case, why not Virat? Virat has opened the batting in T20 cricket, why not him again? If he could open the batting with Rohit, then Ruturaj and Shreyas could also come into the mix. It looks very exciting," said Ashwin in a video on his YouTube channel.
Here is how social media reacted to it:
Ravi Ashwin top 4 for 2027 WC :
— Akshat (@Akshatgoel1408) December 5, 2025
Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Shreyas Iyer
Ash Anna either forgot Shubman Gill or he cooked him indirectly. Anna is not holding back with his words man. Somebody please stop him pic.twitter.com/e44nUdUqVE
Gill bechara kha gya
— sandeep kumar (@sande27126) December 5, 2025
Gill has good record in ODIS, can't throw him because of 1 hundred of rutu. Ruturaj will be good backup for top3 . We need good finisher like Rinku at no.6 powerhitter. Old mein takat lagegi ,jadu is not good. Rinku can give 4-5 good overs additional
— subhankar haldar (@subhankarhaldar) December 5, 2025
The former India all-rounder was then asked about Aiden Markram and Matthew Breetzke's innings, and also the batting depth of South Africa. Before Ashwin answered that, he apologized for missing Gill in his last reply.
"Sorry, I forgot the name of Shubman Gill in last discussion. It's quite unfair again. So there is a competition for a lot of places but I would love to see Ruturaj get a fair go before it is been decided," he said.
People who think R. Ashwin simply "forgot" to mention Shubman Gill's name, I don't believe that for a second.
— GillTheWill (@GillTheWill77) December 5, 2025
He himself later said, "I forgot to mention Shubman Gill in the last conversation, but there's a lot of competition for the top four I'd still love to see Ruturaj get a... pic.twitter.com/MqiBHmVj0k
Shubman Gill is currently out of the India squad. He sustained a neck injury during India's first Test against South Africa in Kolkata last month and remains on the sidelines due to that. In his absence, India tried Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener with Rohit Sharma in the first two ODIs against the Proteas.
India Cricket Team
South Africa Cricket Team
Ravichandran Ashwin