Former Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has a suggestion for Shubman Gill ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Ashwin urges Gill to maintain his natural batting, instead of running behind a massive, staggering strike rate.
The upcoming Indian Premier League campaign is going to be very crucial for the star Indian batter as he was dropped from the T20I team after being named as the deputy of Suryakumar Yadav.
It is widely believed that the selection committee dropped Gill because of comparably low strike rates. With the Gujarat Titans in the 2026 season, the batter from Punjab could try to prove to those who think he is not ideal to represent India in the shortest format of the game.
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BCCI named Shubman Gill the vice-captain of India’s T20I squad
During the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2026, the Indian team management named Shubman Gill as the vice captain of the T20I set-up. To accommodate the batter in the top order, the management used to either drop Sanju Samson from the playing combination or drag him down in the batting order.
The efforts made by the Gautam Gambhir-led management eventually went in vain as Gill’s overall performance was not enough to satisfy the management.
R Ashwin asks Shubman Gill to score tons of runs in the IPL 2026 season to make his case strong
It was definitely a blow to Shubman Gill’s pride as he is the captain of India’s Test and ODI teams. Ravichandran Ashwin said that the 26-year-old is an all-format batter who can bounce back again in the T20I team if he can maintain his rhythm.
“To dismiss him in Ahmedabad, he has become a bit like a don these days; it is quite difficult to get him out. So, I think Shubman Gill has nothing to worry about, and if I were him, I would be telling myself to go out and plunder runs once again. The best way to keep yourself in reckoning is by making a volume of runs. He will be the best batter for GT,” Ravichandran Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash ki Baat.
Ashwin suggests that the batter perform according to the team’s needs
Ashwin further tells that Gill can pile up runs for the Gujarat Titans (GT) without maintaining a thunderous strike rate. The former cricketer asks Gill to perform according to GT’s needs. Without an in-form Shubman, the team can struggle a long way.
“I do not doubt that Shubman will go about his batting business, just like last year. If Shubman keeps chasing strike rate and does not score runs, then GT will struggle big time. I hope he does not do that. He can score runs without chasing a high strike rate,” Ashwin further added.
The right batter was in stunning form in the IPL 2025 season for Gujarat, scoring 650 runs with an average of 50.00 in 15 matches. During the course, his strike rate was 155.87.
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