New Chandigarh: This wasn’t the homecoming Shubman Gill had hoped for. In the second T20I against South Africa at New Chandigarh, the India vice-captain was dismissed off the first ball he faced. It was a proper Test dismissal. The ball seamed away a bit, squared up the batter and the edge was taken at first slip.
And given that this dismissal was coming right after a two-ball dismissal in the first game, India have reasons to worry. They’ve tried to fit Gill into the T20 team but so far, the gambit hasn’t worked. It is particularly irksome because they have more proven performers waiting in the wings.
Sanju Samson seemed to have got a good thing going with Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order and had scored three centuries in 2024. But he had to vacate that spot for Gill. Yashavii Jaiswal is another batter who could make the spot his own but he has had to wait as well. Plenty of talent to facilitate the creeping in of some doubt.
Gill, one might add, has shown that he can find success in the T20 format. His last three years in the IPL have seen him score 890 runs in 2023), 426 (2024) and 650 runs (2025) and place among the best in the country. He has also sought to address the strike-rate issues that plagued his early years in the league.
But T20Is are proving to be a tougher nut to crack. Since returning to the T20I setup in 2025, he has scored 263 runs from 14 innings at an average of 23.90 and a strike rate of 142.93 —without a single half-century.
Even during the Australia tour, where despite getting a few starts, he never managed to impose himself. It doesn’t help that the captain Suryakumar Yadav isn’t scoring runs either. India don’t want to be caught in a situation where both the captain and the vice-captain are struggling. It can, at the very least, affect decision making.
With the T20 World Cup on the horizon, just 8 games remain for Surya and Co, and India entering as co-hosts and title contenders, Gill’s form has become a significant concern — regardless of whether the team acknowledges it or not.
Ahead of the second T20I, former India star Yuvraj Singh—whose stand was inaugurated at the stadium—was seen chatting with Gill and Abhishek Sharma, offering a pep talk to the Punjab duo. They would now hope to carry those words into Dharamsala for the third T20I.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, however, remains optimistic despite the unforgiving and unrelenting nature of the format. He revealed that he had noticed some promising signs in Gill during the latter stages of the Australia tour.
“With Shubi, I saw some good signs in his mentality at the back end of the Australia series. Cuttack wasn’t a great wicket, and tonight he got a genuinely good ball… these things happen when you’re short on form. But we know his class. Look at his IPL record: 700 runs, 600 runs, 800 runs, 600 runs (fact check: Gill has scored over 500 runs just twice in 8 IPL seasons). We believe in his quality and we’re confident he will come good.”
Asked whether Gill needed to tweak his approach, ten Doeschate suggested the burden of leadership may have tightened him up.
“Taking on the captaincy in England brought pride and responsibility, and maybe he carried some of that into the T20 side. If anything, he was a bit too caring, a bit too tight. Towards the end of the Australia tour, the conversations were about freeing up and letting go of that burden of justification. We want him playing with the same freedom he shows in the IPL, without feeling like everything depends on him.”
India’s chase ultimately collapsed, losing their last five wickets for just five runs and sliding to a 51-run defeat. While Hardik Pandya’s brilliance had carried them to a huge win in Cuttack, the team will hope the specialist batters find their rhythm too.
Suryakumar, who led India to the Asia Cup title last month, has also endured a prolonged dip but ten Doeschate remained equally steadfast about backing the skipper.
“Surya is pure quality, and we have high expectations from our No. 3. Yes, the runs haven’t come, but we’re not worried. His job is to attack. He had a lightbulb moment in Australia and had been batting nicely coming into this series. Two games don’t change that. His leadership has been fantastic—he’s got the group aligned with the plans, and the runs will come.”
For now, the team’s trust in its leadership group remains unshaken.
“For us, it’s about backing our leaders and our best players. We’re quite far down the road in terms of our planning. You stand by quality players and quality leaders—they will come good. I understand it looks worrying from the outside, but I have absolute faith in both of them,” he said.
