3 things to watch out for in Shubman Gill's captaincy in IND vs ZIM T20Is
Star batter Shubman Gill will lead the Indian team for the first time in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, set to begin in Harare on July 6. Gill wasn't a part of the Men in Blue squad that won the T20 World Cup but was named in the travelling reserves.
Gill showed promise as a leader in some situations during his first IPL season as the Gujarat Titans (GT) captain. However, GT finished in eighth position with 10 points and international cricket is also a different kettle of fish altogether.
Not to forget that Gill may be looked at as a future captaincy option across formats and perhaps that is one of the main reasons he is leading the team in Zimbabwe. On that note, let's take a look at three things that one may take note of from Shubman Gill's captaincy in the upcoming T20I series:
#3 Bowling changes
One of the peculiar factors that one observed in Shubman Gill's captaincy during the IPL was how he went for the kill when he sensed an opportunity. Their first game at home against the Mumbai Indians (MI) was one where GT snatched a win from the jaws of defeat, and a lot of that was down to some excellent bowling changes from Gill.
The youngster also almost pulled off another win, this time in a low-scoring away game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Against Zimbabwe, Gill will have a variety of bowling options in Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Harshit Rana, etc. and it will be interesting to see how he shuffles his bowlers.
#2 Handling inexperienced players
There are several players in the Indian squad like Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma who are yet to make their debut. Shubman Gill, despite being a youngster himself, has enough experience under his belt to realize the nerves that the aforementioned players may feel ahead of their potential debut.
It will be interesting to see how Gill helps these players become a part of a cohesive unit to get the desired result from the series. Having rubbed shoulders with some experienced and calm heads at GT, Gill may bring some of his learnings from that camp into play.
#1 Shubman Gill's own form as batter
Shubman Gill didn't have the best of IPL seasons this year, especially with the standards he had set for himself with a staggering 890 runs in IPL 2023. Having lost his place in the T20 World Cup squad to the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill would know that he probably hasn't cemented his T20 spot yet and will need to have a good series with the bat.
In 14 T20Is, Shubman Gill has scored 335 runs at an average of 25.76 with one century and a half-century. It will be interesting to see how the youngster manages his own batting with the added responsibility of captaincy.