Sunil Gavaskar Lends Golden Advice To Shubman Gill After Last-Minute T20 World Cup 2026 Rejection

Shubman Gill was left out of India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad on Saturday, also being removed from vice-captaincy in the process. Gill has failed to score a half-century in any of his 15 games since his return to India's T20I squad at the Asia Cup 2025. However, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar urged Gill to take the selection snub in the "right spirit". Gavaskar also said that Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Ajit Agarkar must have spoken to Gill and reassured him about the future.

"I hope Shubman takes this in the right spirit. I wish him the best. Some of his injuries have been strange," Gavaskar said, speaking on Star Sports.

"Knowing Ajit Agarkar, I'm pretty sure he'll be on the phone to Shubman, trying to explain to him why they took the call that they did," Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar suggested that Gill being dropped and India picking two wicket-keeper batters who can open was a "course correction".

Gill had been reintroduced to India's T20I setup ahead of the Asia Cup 2025, a move that saw Sanju Samson having to drop down the order despite faring well as an opener.

"And I think it's a course correction. In the sense that when Shubman came into the T20 squad, Sanju Samson went down the order. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma had formed a very good opening pair - a left-hand, right-hand combination - looking to hit the first ball of the game for a six and getting India off to fabulous starts.

"I think that is something Ajit will definitely speak to Shubman about, assuring him that he's always going to be in the discussion. But for this particular tournament, considering the fact that he's had some injuries and hasn't been in the best of touch, they've left him out. That doesn't mean he won't be part of future teams," Gavaskar further added.

With Gill being dropped, Axar Patel was appointed as the vice-captain for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Topics mentioned in this article

Shubman Gill Sunil Gavaskar India Cricket Team T20 World Cup 2026 Cricket