Shubman Gill has become a major talking point. Lack of runs, low strike, and selection in India’s T20I team are receiving scrutiny.
After Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from the format, Gill became the incumbent opener and was named deputy to Suryakumar Yadav. But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chose to rest him from T20Is and focus on Test and ODI cricket.
Shubman Gill’s underwhelming performance in T20Is
After Gill’s success as India’s Test captain, the BCCI named him ODI skipper and brought him back to the T20I team after more than a year. He was brought back as deputy, and Sanju Samson, who had scored 3 hundred, was removed as opener to accommodate him.
But it’s been nothing but failure since. In 2025, Gill doesn’t even have a fifty in 15 innings. He averages less than 25 and doesn’t even strike at 140. Given his talent, the numbers are astonishing. What has happened all of a sudden to the player, who averaged 50 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 and struck at over 155?
Should emulate Virat Kohli
InsideSport asked his question to Robin Uthappa in an exclusive conversation. The former Indian cricketer explained what the reason behind Gill’s form rut might be, his role in the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup, and what template he must follow to succeed.
Speaking on Gill’s lack of runs, Uthappa urged the star batter to play his brand of cricket. He reckons Gill might be looking to emulate what Samson did for India and move away from what has brought him success. Uthappa thinks Gill fits the Kohli bill, meaning he should play the anchor role in the T20 World Cup, which will allow others to play their natural aggressive game.
“There’s a lot of pressure (on Gill) because of the narrative that surrounds his inclusion in the T20I side. He feels he needs to play in a certain way. Shubman is an extremely impressive and efficient T20 batter. But there is a particular way that works for him, for him to score runs and be effective. I think he’s moved away from that. If he comes back to that, I don’t have an iota of doubt that he’ll score a lot of runs.
If you ask me what kind of role I see Shubman playing in the T20 World Cup, I see a very similar role to what Virat Kohli played for India in the previous (2024) T20 World Cup. He needs to play the sheet anchor role that holds one end, and everyone else can revolve around him, scoring at a high pace,” Uthappa told InsideSport.
Follow GT template
Uthappa thinks Gill replicates what he did for the Gujarat Titans (GT), i.e., take his time and then explode. Whether or not it was right to drop Samson, he thinks the management should now back Gill to play his natural game and not force him to play the way they want to.
“I think he’s trying to score too many runs too early. He needs to take his time. Take 10 balls to settle in. Because once he plays 15-20 deliveries, it’s impossible to get him out, to force an error from him. If he goes back to his template of scoring runs, he’ll be on track again. He needs to follow the same template that he does for GT.
You want him to score runs at a 160-180 strike rate. To bat long and finish the innings. When he bats 10-12 overs, he ends up with that strike rate. We know he’s a world-beater of a player; the management has to find a way to get the best out of him. Then you have given him 10 balls to get set. It doesn’t take away from other batters; instead, it gives others the freedom to go harder,” he added.
