Shubman Gill's strike-rate struggle: How the opener is hampering India's T20I structure

How Gill's T20I stats compare to other openers [Source: AFP Photo]

Yet another T20I match and another sluggish knock from India’s vice-captain, Shubman Gill. On a wicket that looked like a batting paradise, Gill struggled for runs and departed for a scratchy 46 off 39 as he took his team to a difficult situation. Ever since his T20I comeback, Gill has struggled to adapt to the format, and this has done no good for India.

Before Gill’s comeback, India had a stable opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, but to accommodate one player, Samson was sacrificed and the opening numbers have gone down massively.

In this piece, we will analyse Gill's opening performance as compared to other Indian openers (since 2023), and this would determine where the vice-captain stands at the moment.

Indian T20I openers stats since Jan 23

• As the stats decode, India has tried several openers in the last couple of years, and the numbers have been eye-openers for everyone. As expected, Abhishek Sharma sits at the top of the pile with the best strike rate amongst the lot (196.55). A strike rate of nearly 200 with an average touching 40 showcases his greatness.
• Samson, and Jaiswal have also been outstanding, with both the openers scoring at quick rates and playing match-winning knocks. However, both the batters find themselves in deep Ocean as Samson is out of the playing XI, while Jaiswal is not even in the squad.
• On the other hand, there is Shubman Gill, who has the worst strike rate amongst the openers (141), and also has the worst average. Runs are hard to come by for him, but despite everything, the Indian team is still persisting with him.
• Interestingly, in the last 2.5 years, he has played the most games amongst the openers, but in T20Is, strike rate matters and this is where he has struggled to adapt. The ability to quickly shift gears is missing in his batting.

Why Gill's batting is hampering India?

When Gambhir became India's head coach, he had a vision to create an attacking T20I setup, and the plan worked for a brief period as Samson and Abhishek dominated at the top, and india played a free-flowing brand of cricket.

However, with the introduction of Gill, things changed as his batting tempo affected the batting style. Gill’s T20 batting style is all about taking time in the initial few overs before going for big shots. However, in modern times, such philosophy doesn’t work.

Since his comeback, Gill has only played two valuable T20I innings, and against Australia, he struggled for runs with a strike rate of 117 and this put pressure on the other batters as India lost a flurry of wickets.

Does India have Gill's replacement?

In reality, India won’t remove Gill since the batter is the vice-captain of the side, but for the better team composition, the team has to take some harsh calls.

India have two ways to better their T20I squad - either bring back Sanju Samson at the top alongside Abhishek, and if that’s not feasible, they should look to incorporate Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is known for his aggressive batting approach.

Final verdict

Gill has fallen behind when it comes to Indian openers in T20Is since January 2023. The other opening options have dominated the proceedings and pressure has certainly mounted on the vice-captain. His place is secured in the side, but a couple of more failures could put massive pressure on him to perform.

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