India beat South Africa 3-1, clinch eighth consecutive T20I series win

Shubman Gill. PIC/AFP

After beating South Africa 3-1 in the five-match T20I series in Ahmedabad on Friday night, India sealed their eighth successive series win in the shortest format. Despite that, Ajit Agarkar's national selection committee decided to take some bold calls on Saturday while picking the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.

They have dropped out-of-form opener Shubman Gill, who was vice-captain until the recently-concluded T20I series against the Proteas, and brought back in-form wicketkeeper-opener Ishan Kishan and attacking batter Rinku Singh to ensure better team balance.

Jitesh Sharma

India's Test and ODI skipper Gill has managed just one half-century - 58 not out against Zimbabwe at Harare in July 2024 - in his last 19 T20Is, while India discard Kishan led from the front, scoring 101 against Haryana in the final and emerged as the top-scorer with 517 runs while guiding Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title in Pune on Thursday.

‘No doubt about his quality'

"There's no doubt about Shubman's quality. He may not have scored as many runs recently, but that doesn't change how highly we rate him. He was also unlucky to miss out in the last [2024] World Cup when we opted for a different combination. This is more about team balance - specifically the idea of having two wicketkeepers at the top - than about individual ability," Agarkar explained while elaborating on Gill's omission at the post-selection press conference at Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.

Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh

Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who scored 37 runs in four games against South Africa, was the first choice during the series, but Agarkar & Co preferred to bring back hard-hitter Rinku Singh to strengthen the lower-order.

Flexibility factor

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav echoed Agarkar's views on Gill. He said: "It's not about his [Gill's] form. It's just about the combination. We wanted to have a 'keeper at the top. There's no chatter about his quality. He is a terrific player.

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar addresses the media at Wankhede on Saturday. PIC/PTI

We needed Rinku, and we also have Washington Sundar. So, we needed the flexibility to have multiple combinations. That's why we have picked this squad. No question about Gill's class."

India's squad

Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh

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No of half-centuries scored by Shubman Gill in his last 19 games, the opener has scored just 435 runs @ 29.00