Former Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria wants Shubman Gill to get his chances in the ODI format ahead of KL Rahul. Gill has shown the skills to go a long way in his career while Rahul hasn’t been able to take his chances in recent times.
The right-hander from Karnataka scored fifties against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup but apart from that, he could not deliver in the big matches. The stylish batter was dismissed cheaply against England in the all-important semi-final.
On the other hand, Gill didn’t get his chance to open the innings in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand as Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant were backed at the top of the order. However, Gill is expected to open the innings with captain Shikhar Dhawan in the absence of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the ODI series against the Kiwis.
In fact, Gill and Dhawan had done a fine job for India in the ODI series against West Indies and Zimbabwe.
Kaneria said on his YouTube channel: “India will have to look at Shubman Gill, keeping the (2023) World Cup in mind. He is a fantastic player. Rohit Sharma will remain captain in ODIs, but he will need good players. KL Rahul has been given enough chances, but he did not deliver. He was not consistent. But Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Sanju Samson have been giving consistent performances.”
On the other hand, Kaneria was impressed with the way Hardik Pandya led the team in the T20I series against the Blackcaps. India went on to win by 1-0 and Pandya was able to get the best out of his players.
“Rohit hasn’t been bad as a leader, but they were missing some aggression and energy, something which we saw when Virat Kohli was captain. When you have a player like Suryakumar Yadav in your team, you need to show that energy. The way Pandya batted on Tuesday (in the third T20I), his 30* off 18 was very crucial.”
Kaneria backed Pandya to lead India in the T20I format in the future.
“Pandya’s captaincy was really good. The way he excelled as a leader, it looks like he will be the captain of the Indian T20I team in the future,” Kaneria predicted.
India will take on New Zealand in the first ODI on Friday.
