Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal Join Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane In Unwanted List After Bagging Ducks vs SA

India National Cricket Team young opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill have joined Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in an unwanted list in T20I cricket.

Gill and Jaiswal were chosen as openers for the second T20I of the three-match series against the South Africa National Cricket Team at St George’s Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday, December 12. Ruturaj Gaikwad was also an opening option available for India, but he was sick and hence missed out on selection.

India were invited to bat first in the match against the Proteas and they were off to an awful start. Both the openers performed terribly and bagged ducks.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was the first one to fall as he was dismissed by Marco Jansen on the third ball of the first over. The left-arm quick bowled a short of a length ball outside off and Jaiswal tried to cut it but played it straight in the hands of Miller to bag a 3-ball duck.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill was dismissed on the last ball of the 2nd over which was bowled by Lizaad Williams. The pacer bowled a length ball tailing into Gill and the opener was trapped LBW. He was dismissed for a 2-ball duck and left India struggling at 6/2.

This was only the second time in the history of Indian cricket that an opening pair bagged ducks in a T20I match. The first Indian opening duo to achieve this unwanted feat was of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane.

Both Indian Openers Scoring Duck in a T20I match:

Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane vs Pakistan (2016)

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill vs South Africa (2023)

Very important series for us – Shubman Gill

Speaking to broadcasters ahead of the second T20I, Shubman Gill stated that the ongoing T20I series is very important for them as they only have a handful of T20I matches left to play ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He asserted:

“Very important series for us. There are just five more games before the IPL. So in terms of that, it’s very important. I haven’t had that much of T20Is under my belt so this series and the three matches in India will be very important.

“It’s all about staying in a good mental place and then go about executing your shots. I mean at the end of the day, it’s a game of bat and ball. It’s about playing the situation and that is what I focus on,” he further stated.