"Koi upar se seekh ke toh aata nahi" - Mohammed Shami's blunt verdict on 'captain' Shubman Gill
Published - 20 Jul 2024, 04:37 PM | Updated - 24 Aug 2024, 06:13 AM
India seamer Mohammed Shami has come out in support of Shubman Gill regarding the questions over his place in the team. Gill was recently appointed India's white-ball vice-captain for the Sri Lanka tour.
He was selected in the team instead of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was extremely impressive in Zimbabwe. However, Gaikwad did not find a place in any of the squads and Gill was trusted to be in the leadership group.
At 24, Gill is already seen as the future captain of India. That may be the reason for his appointment as the vice-captain despite a mediocre T20I record. The youngster is already an established batter in ODIs and played a key role in India's road to the 2023 World Cup final.
Mohammed Shami backs Shubman Gill as India's future captain
While speaking on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel, Shami backed Gill to lead the team in the future. Shami argued that nobody is perfect and Gill had to be trusted upon for the role. He mentioned that the players need to perform in order to win games and a captain cannot be blamed for that.
"He (Shubman Gill) has led the team in the IPL as well. Koi upar se seekh ke toh aata nahi. You have to trust someone for captaincy as nobody is perfect. He has led the team (Gujarat Titans) the whole IPL season and also led them well. If your players don't perform, you can't blame the captain," Shami said.
Moye moye moment for Journalist Shubhankar Mishra who is leaving no stones unturned in running agendas against Shubman Gill asking the same repeated question about his captaincy but this time Shami out smart him!!#ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/pmQUTve0mu
— 𝑵 ❤️ (@the_lost_gurl77) July 19, 2024
Both Shubman Gill and Mohammed Shami play for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, where Gill is now the captain of the team. Gill led the Titans for the first time this season but Shami missed the IPL 2024 due to injury.
Shubman Gill's IPL record
Shubman Gill has a good record in the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he has scored 3216 runs in 103 matches at an average of 37.84 and a strike rate of 135.70. His performance in the IPL has consistently improved with every year.
In IPL 2023, Gill had his best season in the IPL with 890 runs in 17 matches at an average of 59.33 and a strike rate of 157.80. He had a decent year in IPL 2024 too, where he scored 426 runs at an average of 38.73 and a strike rate of 147.40. Gill will be key to India's chances in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025, which is to be hosted by Pakistan.
Meanwhile, fast bowler Mohammed Shami has started his training after returning from an Achilles Tendon surgery in London. He suffered an ankle injury during the ODI World Cup last year and has been out of the Indian team since the 2023 World Cup final against Australia.
He is likely to make a comeback to the team during India's home series against Bangladesh in September 2023. The right-arm fast bowler will be crucial to India's chances in the two ICC tournaments to be played next year, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final.
