Suryakumar Yadav vs Shubman Gill: Former India cricketer explains why the two cases are different

Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. (Photo: BCCI)

The consequences of India's T20 World Cup selection announcement are still being felt. Nobody anticipated that Shubman Gill, the appointed vice-captain, would be left off of the 15-person squad for the 20-team competition. But that's exactly what the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee did.

The 26-year-old right-handed batsman scored 291 runs at a strike rate of less than 138 in the 15 Twenty20 Internationals he played in 2025, but he did not light the stage on fire. Sanju Samson's exclusion was made possible by Gill's return to the T20 lineup during the Asia Cup.

However, Gill was unable to get going as an opener since he was unable to push the pace at the top, with Abhishek Sharma bearing the majority of the responsibility. In the past, Abhishek and Sanju would both go all out from ball number one, which almost always resulted in the team scoring more than 220.

Even though Gill's stats are poor, they are still superior than those of skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who has only managed to score 218 runs at an average of less than 14 in 2025. His strike rate has also plummeted to less than 118, and some people wonder how Suryakumar managed to pull off the same achievement while having poorer figures if Gill was eliminated.

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif, however, feels that Suryakumar and Gill's situations are quite different because the former is a proven match-winner in Twenty20 Internationals, whilst the same cannot be said about India's Test and One-Day International captain.

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“There is a difference in the cases of Gill and Surya. Surya has been a proven match-winner in T20s. He has been on top of the ICC rankings and won games as well. We can't compare the two here. Gill had to prove himself in this format in the Indian team,” Kaif said on YouTube.

“Take Kohli for example, he did not score for those two years during COVID but because he had a great record and a match-winner for 10 years or so, you backed him on his reputation and he got out of that phase and started scoring again. Surya is also in this category. Gill is nowhere close to Surya in this format. Saying you should remove both if they are not in form is not right here. Surya has earned this,” he added.

Additionally, the former Indian batsman feels that Suryakumar can still contribute to the team and that his performances should be examined rather than being dropped so close to a World Cup.

“He cannot be dropped. In Surya's case, he has to be backed. You need to focus on where he is making mistakes and why he is not able to score. Is it because of the captaincy? Is that pressure getting to him? That is the question,” Kaif said.

“He is a solid player in this format. The question is how he can get out of this phase. He needs to assess whether he is putting his energy elsewhere and whether his technique is exposed. He has to find these answers,” he added.

Axar Patel was selected vice-captain after Gill was dismissed. The all-rounder will be Suryakumar’s deputy in the forthcoming five-match series against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup.