Shubman Gill has admitted to being disappointed at not being selected for India’s tour of the West Indies, saying he expected to be there in at least one of the squads.
India will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against West Indies, with the first T20I on August 3.
Gill, who is with the India A squad in the Caribbean, finished the one-day series as the top run-getter with 218 runs in four matches, averaging 54.50 with a strike rate of 98.19. He hit three half-centuries and was named the Man of the Series.
Gill had earned a call-up to the India squad for the New Zealand tour earlier this year, and played two ODIs, though he didn’t get into double digits in either game.
“I was waiting for the Indian senior team to be announced on Sunday and I expected to be selected for at least one of the squads,” Gill told CricketNext. “It was disappointing not to get picked but I am not going to spend time thinking over it. I’ll keep scoring runs and performing to the best of my ability to impress the selectors.
“It was a fantastic series for me and team as well since we won with a 4-1 margin,” Gill said. “Personally, I would have liked to carry on and score at least a couple of hundreds in those fifties. But I will learn from this experience. The biggest lesson that I have learned from my first West Indies tour is to try to curb my natural game depending on the match condition.”
But while he didn’t make it to the squad, Gill was discussed at the selection meeting, with chief selector MSK Prasad saying, “He went to New Zealand when KL Rahul was suspended and now Rahul has come back so he (Gill) is in the waiting list. Definitely he will be considered in the future.”
In his brief career, Gill has shown he has the game to adapt to different formats, and found success at almost every level he has played at. His first-class career is only nine games old but he’s already amassed more than 1000 runs, and has hit at least a half-century in each of those matches. His List A numbers are also good. In 47 matches, including 17 for India A, Gill has 1942 runs at an average of 47.36 and a strike rate of 87.51.
Most of his T20 career has come in the IPL for Kolkata Knight Riders, having batted at different numbers from 1 to 7. Despite that, Gill’s average (32.31) and strike rate (132.90) have been impressive.
Gill’s next assignment is the three four-dayers in the Caribbean, with the first match starting on Wednesday in North Sound.