Ashwin on Shubman Gill's T20I place: 'Competition is unfortunate and fortunate'

Shubman Gill (Image credit: BCCI)

NEW DELHI: With several exciting T20 talents emerging, team selection has become a major headache for the selectors. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes Shubman Gill, who is in ominous form in IPL 2026, deserves a place in India’s T20I setup. However, with youngsters like Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh Arya coming through, along with established names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma and experienced Sanju Samson already in contention, the competition has become intense. “Main bolta hoon mushkil hai yaar. Agar main Ajit Agarkar hota na, selection ke waqt phone chhod ke Maldives chala jata. Phone hi nahi uthaunga,” he said.

Shubman lost his place in India’s T20I setup ahead of the home series against New Zealand national cricket team, which preceded the 2026 T20 World Cup. However, India’s Test and ODI captain responded in style with a sensational IPL 2026 campaign. Gill has scored 616 runs in 13 matches at an average of 47.38 and a strike rate of 161.68, including six half-centuries. He has also led Gujarat Titans into the playoffs.

“Accha player toh hai hi. Par aap hi bataiye — ek chhota sa baccha 220 ke strike rate se batting kar raha hai, woh special hai, shayad aur bhi zyada special. Sanju Samson ne T20 World Cup mein itni tagdi innings kheli, unko aap ignore nahi kar sakte. Abhishek Sharma bhi consistently attacking cricket khel raha hai, SRH ke liye bhi bahut badhiya perform kar raha hai [He is obviously a very good player. But you tell me — when a young kid is batting at a strike rate of 220, that is something special, maybe even more special. Sanju Samson played some outstanding knocks in the T20 World Cup; you simply cannot ignore him. Abhishek Sharma is also playing consistently attacking cricket and performing brilliantly for Sunrisers Hyderabad],” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“India mein iss waqt unbelievable talent hai. Hurt toh naturally hota hai, lekin mujhe khushi iss baat ki hai ki players us hurt ko performances mein convert kar rahe hain. Exactly. Vaibhav Suryavanshi jaise players hain, Priyansh jaise youngsters hain, high-intent openers hain. Aur dekhiye, hum KL Rahul ka naam tak bhool jaate hain kabhi-kabhi. Sab ek-doosre ko push kar rahe hain — high-intent cricket bhi khelna hai aur runs bhi banana hai. Yeh Indian cricket ke liye amazing phase hai. Ismein koi kisi se kam nahi hai [India has unbelievable talent at the moment. Naturally, players feel hurt at times, but what makes me happy is that they are converting that hurt into performances. There are players like Vaibhav Suryavanshi, youngsters like Priyansh, and several high-intent openers. And sometimes we even forget to mention KL Rahul. Everyone is pushing each other — to play high-intent cricket and still keep scoring runs. This is an amazing phase for Indian cricket. No one is inferior to anyone here],” he added.

Shubman, who played his last T20I in 2025 against South Africa national cricket team in Dharamsala, has featured in 36 T20Is and scored 869 runs at an average of 28.03 and a strike rate of 138.59, including one century and three fifties.

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“Shubman Gill ke paas jitna potential hai, woh usse bhi better kar sakta hai. Aap duniya ki kisi bhi T20 national team ko dekh lo, Shubman Gill ka naam wahan zaroor hoga. Indian cricket ka talent pool itna strong hai ki competition unfortunate bhi lagta hai aur fortunate bhi. Indian cricket is at another level [Shubman Gill has immense potential, and he can become even better. You can pick any T20 national team in the world and Shubman Gill’s name will feature there. India’s talent pool is so strong that the competition feels unfortunate as well as fortunate at the same time. Indian cricket is operating at another level],” he said.

Ashwin also said that the way Virat Kohli is still performing, he would have remained part of the T20I setup had he not retired from the format after India’s 2024 T20 World Cup triumph. “Log bolte hain kya Virat Kohli deserve nahi karte? Unhone Indian cricket ke liye itna kuch kiya hai. Agar woh retire nahi hote, toh aaj bhi current setup mein hote. Yashasvi Jaiswal ka IPL shayad pichhle saal jaisa nahi raha, lekin T20 opening ke liye unka naam phir bhi discussion mein aata hai [People ask whether Virat Kohli deserves a place or not. Look at what he has done for Indian cricket. Had he not retired, he would still have been part of the current setup. Yashasvi Jaiswal may not have had the same IPL season as last year, but his name still comes up whenever there is a discussion about T20 opening options],” Ashwin said.

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