What a start to 2023 it has been for Shubman Gill. While there was a section of cricket fans who were not too pleased with Ishan Kishan being dropped after scoring a double hundred against Bangladesh in December last year, Shubman scored one himself in the first ODI against New Zealand in January. He even translated that form into the T20Is, something which Kishan failed to do and brought up his maiden T20I hundred in the series decider against the Kiwis.
Gill registered the highest-score ever by an Indian in T20Is as he remained unbeaten on 126 off just 63 balls. His innings laid the foundation of the team's biggest victory in terms of margin of runs as they humiliated the visitors by 168 runs clinch the series 2-1. During his hundred in Ahmedabad, a picture of a female fan holding a placard for him has made its way online. The caption contained a proposal for the Punjab cricketer and a request to a dating app as it read: "Tinder, Shubman se match kara do."
Post the New Zealand series, India are now gearing up for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Men in Blue will host the Kangaroos for a four-match Test series which is going to be crucial as the finalists of the second cycle of the World Test Championship will be decided by the result of this series.
Gill has been named in the squad for the first two Tests and with Rishabh Pant yet to recover from the injuries he sustained in the car accident in December, Ishan Kishan also finds his name in the squad as a wicketkeeper-batter along with KS Bharat. Rohit Sharma will lead the side with KL Rahul being named his deputy.
India’s Test squad for the first two Tests against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Suryakumar Yadav.