MUMBAI: Since his return to India’s T20 fold as vice-captain, Shubman Gill has endured a lean run. The 26-year old was dismissed for a golden duck in the second T20I versus South Africa. At a time when critics are openly questioning his place in the side, Gill has received a strong vote of confidence from Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra, who has backed the franchise’s captain to come good and urged observers not to reduce a player of Gill’s quality to mere numbers.Nehra said, “Look, the player you are talking about, (even) if the IPL was three weeks away, I wouldn’t be worried. You’re talking about the T20 format. And there are only two matches played with South Africa. This is our problem. In such a fast-paced format, whether it is international cricket or IPL, if we start evaluating players like Gill after two-three matches, it will be difficult.
“You have options. You can remove Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill. You can open with Sai Sudharsan and Ruturaj Gaikwad. If you want to remove them, you can do it with Washington Sundar and Ishan Kishan. Options are always there if there are talks about changing players after not-good stats. But aise karoge to bahut mushkil hogi (such a move will lead to difficulties).”Another GT India player facing scrutiny is off-spinning allrounder Washington Sundar. He took just one wicket in the two-Test series against South Africa while scoring 124 runs at 31. In the ODIs, he managed only 14 runs at an average of 7 and returned 0/46 in seven overs. Sundar has not found a place in the XI in the ongoing T20Is. Rubbishing talk that GT were seeking to trade Sundar, Nehra highlighted the Tamil Nadu allrounder’s value with both bat and ball.“Sundar, the kind of skill set he has, he can bat at whatever number you want him to. Now, since he is playing in all three formats, he will gain confidence. It also depends on the conditions. If there is a little help from the pitch, then Sundar is the full package. But he’s not a finished product. He’ll get better from here. He’s only 25–26 years old and has been in the system for so many years,” Nehra said.
