Robin Uthappa praised Shubman Gill’s leadership in ODIs and Tests, acknowledging his strong credentials, but noted that he still needs to prove himself in T20Is.
Robin Uthappa’s Take on Shubman Gill’s Leadership
Former batter Robin Uthappa offered a candid assessment of Shubman Gill’s rise as India’s ODI captain, noting that the young star is still a long way from securing an all-format leadership role, particularly due to his inconsistent T20I record. While Shubman has cemented his position in Indian cricket this year with Test and ODI captaincy, his T20I numbers—705 runs in 28 matches at an average of 28.20 and a strike rate of 141.28—remain under scrutiny.
Gill was chosen over Yashasvi Jaiswal for the recently concluded Asia Cup, where India won the title, but he struggled, scoring just 127 runs in seven matches without a single fifty. Despite this, he retained his place for the T20I series on the Australia tour, where he also made his ODI captaincy debut.
Uthappa praised Gill’s credentials in Tests and ODIs, but emphasized that he still needs to prove himself in T20Is. He also pointed to the competition for opening slots from players like Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, and suggested that Shreyas Iyer could be a potential T20I captain.
“I get One Day and Test cricket, and I think he’s a solid pick in Test cricket, and he’s shown us that as well. As far as ODI cricket is concerned, I think his numbers are good, but they’ll get better for a player of his caliber. I think they will look at Shreyas Iyer as a captain in T20. Shubman Gill, he still has to earn that spot. Especially when you have Yashasvi Jaiswal waiting in the wings, Sanju Samson’s spot being shifted, Shreyas Iyer not being part of the side, waiting in the wings as well. I wish his Asia Cup went better for him for his sake because now Abhishek has run with that one opener slot. The second opener slot is still very much open. Yashasvi can come up there. Sanju can certainly come up there,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel.
“Shubman Gill needs to secure his spot first”
Robin Uthappa stressed that Shubman Gill still has to earn his place in India’s T20I side, and holding the vice-captaincy does not automatically secure a future captaincy.
“I still think Gill needs to secure his spot first. So, I don’t think it will be taken for granted in a sense where he will be captain or he will be next in line. We know and we’ve seen Indian cricket change overnight; things change very quickly, narratives change very quickly. Honestly, vice-captaincy in India doesn’t mean very much… Like, you’ve seen a bunch of vice-captains not becoming captain, right?” he added.