Mumbai: Cricket great Sunil Gavaskar has endorsed India’s Test captain Shubman Gill’s elevation to the T20I vicecaptaincy in the upcoming Asia Cup, set to begin on Sept 9 in the UAE. Gill has scored 578 runs in 21 T20Is, averaging 30.42, with one hundred and three fifties, at a strike rate of 139.27. However, he played his last T20I against Sri Lanka in July last year.Asked if Gill could maintain the impressive form he displayed in the five-Test series in England for the Asia Cup’s T20 format, Gavaskar said, “He has been very successful in the T20 format in the IPL, so there is no question that he has got the capability. In the kind of form that he is in, where he has scored more than 750 (754) runs in the Test series against England and the way he batted in the IPL while captaining Gujarat Titans, it really augurs well. Having him back in the team was a no-brainer. He was part of the Indian team earlier too.”Gill’s inclusion, however, has causes a logjam in the top order and caused some selection headaches for the team management, since they will have to pick between opener Sanju Samson and Jitesh Sharma, who has proven to be a competent finisher for RCB, for the sole wicketkeeper’s spot in the XI.Gavaskar said, “It’s a very good headache to have for any selection committee that you have two capable batters and somebody like Sanju who can maybe even bat at No. 3 and if needed, come down to No. 6 as a finisher. Of course, Jitesh has also done well in the IPL.”
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Gavaskar added that Samson is likely to be preferred over Jitesh initially. “My feeling is that maybe Samson will probably get the nod ahead of Jitesh for at least the first couple of games, and then depending on what his form is for the rest of the tournament, they can decide on who plays. But if you pick somebody like Samson in the team, you can’t leave him out,” he said.Gavaskar suggested that if Samson is played at No. 3, India might utilize middle-order batter Tilak Varma as a finisher at No. 5 or 6. He explained, “They might even be thinking in terms of having Samson at No. 3 and having Tilak as a finisher at No. 5 or No. 6. Hardik is there too, who will probably be batting 5 or 6,” he said.Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the Asia Cup 2025. Live coverage of the Asia Cup 2025 will commence on September 9 at 7:00 PM onwards on Sony Sports Ten 1 and Sony Sports Ten 5.
