Gautam Gambhir and Suryakumar Yadav’s understanding is similar: Shubman Gill

Suryakumar Yadav’s appointment as T20I captain was a surprise as Hardik Pandya was groomed for a long time to take over the responsibility in Rohit Sharma’s absence. However, the new team management has concerns over Hardik’s fitness which prompted them to appoint Suryakumar as the new leader. On the other hand, Shubman Gill has been appointed as the new vice-captain and in his first press conference, the youngster talked about the similar mindset of Suryakumar and new head coach Gautam Gambhir.

The Mumbai-born cricketer has played under Gambhir in Kolkata Knight Riders and was also his deputy at one point. Gill noted they have a similar understanding of the game and the effect of the same will be seen when the players hit the field in the first T20I against Sri Lanka on July 27, in Pallekele.

“I think the line of thinking and mindset (of Suryakumar and Gambhir) are on the same page. I had played under Surya Bhai in South Africa too. Their understanding is similar and I think you’ll get to see the effects on the field as well,” Gill said in the press conference as quoted by Cricbuzz.

Gill also revealed that the players are happy with the appointment of Abhishek Nayar as one of the assistant coaches. The former India cricketer has done a commendable job for KKR, which helped him earn a national team contract. Gill mentioned that Nayar is present on the field for long hours, which is one of the biggest positives.

“He (Nayar) is very hard working and stays on the ground for long hours till the players are satisfied with their own progress. I think that is his biggest positive,” Gill said.

The focus will be to perform better as a batter: Gill

Shubman Gill was upset after failing to make it into India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2024. However, he is over that and stated that his performance leading into the tournament wasn’t anything notable but he hopes to improve his batting and be one of the stars in the T20I team going forward.

“Speaking of the World Cup selection, I think my performances in T20I prior to that weren’t as good as I had expected from myself. But going forward, we’ll playing about 30-40 games in this cycle and the focus will be to perform better as a batter,” the 24-year-old said.