Shubman Gill's T20 World Cup snub termed as ‘damage control’; How India's squad selection reflects clear thinking?

Shubman Gill's snub from India T20 World Cup squad has been the major talking point, highlighting the Indian team management's bold and tactical approach. Leading the Indian team for the first time in Tests, Gill's 754 runs including multiple hundreds on English soil, certainly dazzled the decision makers.

Having said that, success in the longest format doesn't always mean success in T20Is. With no fifties in his last 18 innings in T20Is, Gill's place in the team had been under question, forcing the likes of Sanju Samson on the bench. His recently neck ad foot injuries added more misery to the Indian T20I vice-captain. Notably, Gill is the captain in Tests and ODIs.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar felt, Gill's omission is a damage control by the selectors, who recalled the right-hander into the T20I side after more than a year. “When you pick some one excitedly on Test performance for T20s, this is what happens. Gill omission is basically selectors rectifying a mistake they made when they got a bit carried away after the England tour,” Manjrekar wrote on X.