Indian squad for their West Indies tour after the World Cup debacle expected to see a bunch of new faces for the limited-overs series.
While the selectors did justice by choosing players like Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, and Navdeep Saini, they missed one of the brightest faces of Indian cricket future, Shubman Gill.
Numbers & Shubman Gill
Shubman’s gill record Westindies emerged the most consistent batter amongst the Indian batsmen in the recently concluded unofficial ODI series between India A and West Indies A.
He has 218 runs to his name from four innings in with three match-winning half-centuries. Shubman’s gill record Westindies is one of the best in the series. Even if one ignores this recent performance, let’s not forget that he had a great Ranji season where he scored 728 runs in five matches at an average above 104.
Gill’s first-class career boasts of an outstanding average of 75.26 in ten first-class matches with over 1000 runs to his name. Shubman’s gill record Westindies has three centuries from these matches and has shown his consistency in List-A and T20 cricket as well. In both formats, he has maintained a decent average so far.
He has been a dependable player for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL since 2018. He was a key player behind India’s Under 19 World Cup triumph in 2018. He emerged as the highest scorer and was named the player of the tournament.
Why not Shubman Gill?
The numbers have all the answers.
But MSK Prasad had something else for the fans when he was asked about Gill’s inclusion in the team. “He was given an opportunity when KL Rahul was out against New Zealand, he will have to wait for his turn.”Prasad was talking about the two ODI Gill had played for India in January 2019 and could only score 16. Indian top-order had massive collapses in both matches. Gill’s debut ODI saw his team getting all out for 92 runs and the next outing saw Ambati Rayudu saving the game with a brilliant 90.
And we already know about Rayadu, right?
Tours like West Indies and Zimbabwe are expected to provide opportunities to the young stars. What prompted the Indian selectors keeping Gill out of the tour is a million-dollar question.
The best part about Gill is probably he never stops trying. The 19-years kid has a mature head on his shoulders and the strong bat to continue his battle.
Just after missing out on Indian squad to face West Indies senior team, Gill went on to win final ODI for India A.Now he is doing the same with the Test series.
Shubman gill’s record Against Westindies raises a question-again
The first Test of the unofficial Test series against West Indies A saw him scoring a valuable 40 and he did not play next match.
Coming back what he did in the third Test is a sheer showcase of class and talent. India A was bundled for 201 and West Indies could reply with only 194 runs.
Although India had a mere lead of seven runs, they looked miserable from the beginning of the second innings. The top order failed totally and on day three India A started to bat with overnight score of 23/3 on board. Gill, who had scored a first-ball duck in the first innings, began the quest with his personal score of two.
He lost his night-watchman partner Shahbaz Nadeem soon with the team total on 50/4 and was joined by the skipper Hanuma Vihari.
Gill took the entire charge as Vihari played a supportive stint at Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad. The duo started reviving the innings as the wonder boy took the lead role. Gill was more attacking and dominating throughout the innings.
Shubman gill record Westindies scored an unbeaten 204 off 248 deliveries with 19 fours and two maximums at a strike rate of 82.35.
Vihari, on the other hand, hit a 219-ball 118. Both remained not out till the declaration of Indian innings (365/4) and added 315 runs in 73 overs.
From almost nowhere India went a step ahead of winning the match and a huge credit goes to the young man of Indian cricket.
With this, he became the youngest cricketer to score a first-class double century for an Indian representative side at the age of 19.
In the process, he surpassed former Indian cricketer who had achieved the feat at 20 against Zimbabweans in 2002 playing for India’s Board President XI.
This clearly proved what Shubman Gill is made of. With his every passing inning he seems to throw a challenge on the selectors and raise the question of excluding him again and again.