"He's an all-format player…" Ajit Agarkar reveals why Shubman Gill has been made ODI and T20I vice-captain

Ajit Agarkar said Shubman Gill has shown decent leadership skills till now.

Indian men’s cricket team chief selector Ajit Agarkar has finally opened up about appointing young sensation Shubman Gill as the new vice-captain of Men in Blue in white-ball cricket.

A few days ago, the BCCI announced the squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, where they will play three T20Is and three ODIs from July 27 to August 7.

The selectors named Suryakumar Yadav as the T20I captain, whereas Rohit Sharma will lead the Men in Blue in three-match ODI series. Gill will serve as the deputy of Suryakumar and Rohit in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.

Shubman is a three-format player, wanted someone to learn from the senior guys: Ajit Agarkar

The 24-year-old Gill is having a steady rise in his cricketing career. Gill was first appointed as Gujarat Titans’ captain in the Indian Premier League 2024 edition. Under Gill, the Gujarat Titans had a poor run as they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since their debut in the league.

Recently, Gill led a young Indian team to a 4-1 series victory over Zimbabwe in the five-match T20I series. The 24-year-old was then named as vice-captain of both T20I and ODI sides for the Sri Lanka tour.

Before Team India’s departure, chief selector Agarkar explained the reason behind picking Gill over Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul as the new vice-captain. Agarkar said that Rishabh was out for cricket action for a long time and didn’t want to burden him. For Rahul, the chief selector added that the star player has not been part of T20Is for a while.

“Rishabh has been out for a long time. We need to get him back to playing. That’s the first thing. We don’t want to burden someone who is coming back after a year out of the game. KL has not been part of T20Is now for a little while. Like I said, if you look at some of the feedback that we have got, we have got a chance to hit the reset button a little bit. We have a bit more time to plan, we want to see for the next two years,” Agarkar said during the press conference ahead of Sri Lanka series.

“This time, in T20Is, when Hardik Pandya did get injured, that was a bit of a challenge because Rohit was also not playing. Thankfully, Rohit was back and he could come in and lead. We don’t want that situation going forward again,” Agarkar added.

Agarkar further said that Shubman is a three-format player and has shown good qualities over the last year. The Indian management wanted somebody who could learn from senior players in the dressing room.

“Shubman is a guy we feel is a three-format player, firstly. And he seems to show a lot of good qualities over the last year or so. That’s why we wanted to have somebody who can also learn from a couple of senior guys who are there. Surya is there. Rohit is still around. We don’t face the same challenge again — suddenly try and look for a new captain in case there is an injury or loss of form. That’s the idea again,” Agarkar said.

Agarkar added that Gill has shown decent leadership skills, and they want him to get some experience. “He has shown some decent leadership qualities. So we want him to get some experience and build going forward. There are no guarantees in life, but at this point, that’s how it looks.”

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