Choking under pressure? Aakash Chopra makes big claim on Shubman Gill's failure vs Pakistan

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Aakash Chopra has made a massive claim on the Test, ODI skipper, and T20I vice-captain, Shubman Gill, failing in the Asia Cup 2025 final against the Pakistan National Cricket Team.

Aakash Chopra bluntly said that Shubman Gill is expected to deliver good performances in big games, and his failure in the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 final is a big problem.

Shubman Gill was being prepared for a 150-run match - Aakash Chopra

Gill is currently among the very few all-format cricketers in the Indian team, and his workload has been immense since the England tour earlier in the year.

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Over the last few years, Gill mainly focused on Test and ODI cricket, but the selection committee recalled him to the T20I team for the Asia Cup 2025 and handed him vice-captaincy.

However, he is yet to justify his place in the T20I team and has suffered constant failures, with the biggest one coming in the Asia Cup 2025 final against the arch-rivals Pakistan.

While chasing 147 runs, India were expecting Gill to finally fire with the bat, but he managed to score just 12 runs off 10 balls, with one four, before being dismissed by Faheem Ashraf.

Thanks to Tilak Varma, India managed to win that match, but Shubman Gill failing in a crucial low-scoring encounter is a massive problem, claimed Aakash Chopra.

"Shubman Gill was being prepared for a 150-run match, like the 2025 Asia Cup final. Shubman not scoring runs in that match is a problem. I am not that bothered by what happens around it because he has been hired for that one job. All the others are strokemakers; they don't have another gear, but you have," Aakash Chopra said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.

"If you look at multi-nation tournaments, the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup, and the 2025 Asia Cup, you won't find 200-plus scores. You talk about 250-300 in bilaterals, but a team rarely does that in an ICC event because everyone plays with fear," he added.

I think there is a clarity issue in the case of Sarfaraz - Aakash Chopra

In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra talked about the Sarfaraz Khan situation and said that he has not even been given a chance to fail because selectors think he can't perform well overseas.

"I think there is a clarity issue in the case of Sarfaraz. I think it is a case of perception and understanding. I am trying to think, they might have a perception that he may not do as well in swinging conditions and play fast bowling well.

"Maybe he is not our guy in SENA countries. So he did not get the chance. But even to make that perception, I have to allow him to fail. He is not even being allowed to fail. And now there is no place in the team as well," he said on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel.

Jaiswal is a premier player in the Indian team as well - Aakash Chopra

Every time Shubman Gill fails in T20I cricket, fans urge the BCCI to recall Yashasvi Jaiswal to the setup. Notably, the left-handed batter has better numbers than Gill in the shorter format, but has been kept out of the setup. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra opined that Yashasvi Jaiswal will eventually be a part of India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad.

"Jaiswal is a premier player in the Indian team as well. He will be there in the ODI and T20I teams in the near future too.

"You can cover the sunlight with some clouds for a while, but you cannot hide it. At this point in time, it is unfair to Jaiswal, I will agree. (not being in the white-ball teams) I feel he will be in the T20 World Cup squad. I don't think the team playing now is the final team," he said.

Also Read: Aakash Chopra exposes Deccan Chargers’ unfair treatment of VVS Laxman; recalls brutal KKR decisions