"It is a good thing that everyone is performing": Shubman Gill on competition for openers' slots

Shubman Gill (Pic: File Pic)

The competition for the openers' slots has intensified following India's T20I series win in Zimbabwe and for contender Shubman Gill, that can only be a "good thing".

Shubman Gill who is expected to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the T20I series against Sri Lanka was the highest run-scorer in Zimbabwe's series. Gill was not part of the T20 World Cup 2024-2inning Team India in the USA and the West Indies.

In the Zimbabwe series, the "Men in Blue" played four opening batsmen namely Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Jaiswal joined Shubman Gill as an opener from the third match of Zimbabwe's tour.

For the first two games, he opened with Punjab teammate Abhishek Sharma who scored a hundred and a fifty in his debut series. Among the four openers, Gill had the lowest strike rate, 125.92, compared to Jaiswal's 165.88, Gaikwad's 158.33 and Abhishek's 174.64.

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"It's a good thing that everyone's performing. It shows that everyone is hungry and nobody is ready to take it easy. For any country or board, that's always a good thing," said Gill on Sunday referring to the openers.

After the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli from T20Is, the selectors will have a task ahead of the Sri Lanka series.

"Anyone who got the opportunity grabbed it with both hands. The openers to bowlers to all-rounders to spinners, everyone made a mark and I think the selectors have now seen everything and it's up to them to name the squad for the next series," he said after India's 4-1 series win over Zimbabwe.

On captaining the team through the series, Shubman Gill said he enjoyed every bit of the challenge. "One thing about captaincy I feel is how much confidence you can show in your players. I try to do that and make them believe that if you try and execute the plans, the results will always follow," Gill said.

"After losing the first match, we were under a bit of pressure. It's not easy to play back-to-back games and the series was planned in a way that there were two back-to-back games, a couple of days rest and then again back-to-back games.

"It's never easy playing a series like that but I think the way we came back after losing the first T20I was really remarkable."

After losing the opening match, India bounced back by sealing the series with 4-1. "Seeing everyone hungry and so quickly adapting to the situation and assessing the conditions was truly spectacular to watch," said Gill.

With the ball moving around in the powerplay, the opener thought it was important to be a little cautious early in the innings.

"I think, as per the conditions of the wicket, there were some challenging conditions, especially in the powerplay, the ball was always doing something or the other. As an opening batter, my focus was to see out 4-5 overs and not concede any wicket," he added.

(With PTI Inputs)