"He's lucky that his name is in the T20 World Cup reserves" - Virender Sehwag amid Shubman Gill's struggles in IPL 2024

Former Indian opening batter Virender Sehwag believes Shubman Gill is lucky to be in the reserves list of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad, given his poor form in IPL 2024. The 45-year-old suggested that KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad deserve to be there ahead of Gill, given that their form has been relatively better.

Gill, who won the Orange Cap for his 890 runs in IPL 2023, has been far from his best in the current edition. The youngster has struggled his way to 322 runs in 11 matches at an average of 32.20, with a couple of half-centuries to his name.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Sehwag has urged Gill not to take his spot for granted and to make big runs consistently to retain his spot.

"I think he's lucky that his name is in the T20 World Cup reserves. KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not even in that. That's a good point and he should be motivated by that. Next time, he should not let his place go once he gets a chance. He should focus on scoring runs at a good strike rate so he doesn't get replaced."

The Gujarat Titans skipper made only two off seven deliveries against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Saturday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. With the captain failing, the Titans managed only 144 as the hosts won by four wickets.

"Improve your skills and score big" - Virender Sehwag

Sehwag cited the example of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, stating how they hardly made the selectors doubt their spot in the side due to their consistency. He added:

"In my days, we had Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman. It doesn't matter how many runs the other guys scored, these guys didn't go out because they never stopped scoring runs. How will you drop them if they keep scoring runs? They never gave a reason to get dropped. This is what Shubman Gill has to learn. Once he returns to Indian team and plays regularly post the World Cup, he shouldn't let such an opportunity arise again. Improve your skills and score big, because big scores will eventually save you."

Gill's form has co-incided with the Titans' struggles as they have lost seven out of 11 matches.