Former Indian opening batter Kris Srikkanth has backed Vaibhav Suryavanshi to become India’s reserve T20I opener ahead of Shubman Gill after IPL 2026. Suryavanshi ended the league phase with 583 runs in 14 games at an average of 41.64 and a strike rate of 232.27. The left-hander’s strike rate is the best among the regular batters in the ongoing season.

Furthermore, Suryavanshi’s tally is the highest ever in the IPL for any teenage batter. However, the prodigy batter was dismissed after scoring only four runs against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.

On the other hand, Shubman Gill has scored 616 runs in 13 matches of IPL 2026 at an average of 47.38 and a strike rate of 161.67.

Kris Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “Gill’s consistency has been amazing. He is a bankable scorer. But the next few series, it’ll be Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson opening as they are world champions. After these two, Vaibhav Suryavanshi will be the next opener. He should be in the 15 as the reserve opener. It’s unclear what the selectors are planning with Shubman Gill.”

“Only Vaibhav Suryavanshi, because of his record last year and this year, should be fast-tracked. Even he will not be in the 11 immediately, but he should be in the 15 to understand the feel of international cricket. So Gill has performed very well, but I can take IPL alone for selection.”

Srikkanth reckons the selectors should not only consider the IPL performances for T20I selection.

“You can’t only consider the IPL. You also have to take the past performances from the international level. If it’s only IPL, even Sai Sudarshan can also claim a place in the T20I side,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

Gill will lead GT in the first qualifier against RCB at Dharamshala on Tuesday.