The countdown to save his place in the playing XI begins for a beleaguered Shubman Gill, who is likely to get three matches against South Africa to prove his worth before the Indian team management switches to a ‘Plan B’ ahead of the T20 World Cup starting in six weeks.
As India gear up to play the third T20I against the Proteas on Sunday in sub-10-degree temperatures here, things are suddenly heating up in the Indian dressing room with the prolonged poor form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming under the scanner. Worse, his deputy Shubman Gill, who was pushed into the XI at the expense of a settled Sanju Samson, is not inspiring much confidence.
The South African pace attack featuring Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Ottniel Baartman and Lutho Sipamla has shown how to bowl on Indian tracks, and the HPCA Stadium strip, offering extra bounce and some movement off the surface, will certainly keep them interested.
Among all T20 sides, South Africa appears to have the requisite balance to win the trophy in the Indian subcontinent this time. Quinton de Kock’s return, along with the likes of Aiden Markram, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, David Miller and all-rounder Jansen, gives their batting an intimidating look.
With only eight games, starting from the third T20I, left before the start of the T20 World Cup title defence, India's under-fire head coach Gautam Gambhir won't be able to afford two out-of-form top-order batters in the starting line-up.
Being the skipper of the side, Surya will certainly have immunity going into the T20 World Cup despite being completely out of form for the past one year, but this can't be said about Gill, who wasn't the original choice as an opener. In this backdrop, Gill would need to bat out of his skin to prove that the Ajit Agarkar-led committee wasn't wrong in excluding Samson for one bad series against England.
The stylish Indian Test and ODI skipper will have to find his T20 game and at least score in two of the three matches if he doesn't want Samson to get his rightful place back or for that matter, or see Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has a fabulous T20I strike-rate of 165, enter the fray during the New Zealand series.
Kuldeep Yadav is one bowler who has consistently troubled the Proteas batter, but in an Indian team where batting till No. 8 is non-negotiable, the left-arm wrist spinner often finds himself getting the rough end of the stick. At Dharamshala too, he might have to sit out as Kuldeep and Varun Chakravarthy, two non-batsmen, can't be clubbed in the same T20 playing 11 as that would lead to compromise in batting depth.
While Arshdeep hasn't had a good series so far, it will be interesting to find if the team management can find a place for Kuldeep in the playing eleven with Hardik Pandya sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah.
Also read: With eye on T20 World Cup, selectors go with Jitesh
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