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“He is mentally tired…”: Ex-players defend Shubman Gill after flop ODI series vs AUS

Aakash Saini

Shubman Gill [Source: AFP]Shubman Gill [Source: AFP]

Shubman Gill managed to accrue just 43 runs across three innings of the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia. The series was also his first 50-overs assignment ever since he was named India’s new ODI captain.

Travelling to Australia after a two-match Test series against West Indies at home and an eight-team Asia Cup 2025 event in the UAE, several former Indian players have come to Shubman Gill’s defence, citing that the Indian opener is “mentally tired” and “under pressure”.

Mohammad Kaif, K Srikkanth defend “tired” Shubman Gill

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes that India’s new ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill has captain, played, and opened the innings in a lot of matches lately across all formats; all which have contributed to him becoming “mentally tired”. While speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif also cited Shubman’s IPL commitment as captain and opening batter for the Gujarat Titans franchise, a role which he undertook a few months ago.

He said:

“He has played a lot of matches lately. He has to open the batting and also captain the team in multiple formats. Then, there is the IPL captaincy as well. With the auction coming up, there will be calls with the Gujarat Titans for planning. There is a lot on his plate at once, and it seemed like it had affected his batting a bit. He looked mentally tired.”

Krishnamachari Srikkanth also came in defence of Shubman Gill by claiming that the latter received a peach of a delivery from Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood in the third ODI at the SCG. The 1983 World Cup winner is also of the opinion that Gill is likely putting too much pressure on himself, owing to the fact that he just replaced Rohit Sharma as national captain and a talented opener like Yashasvi Jaiswal is already waiting in the wings.

Also speaking on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said:

“After performing in England, probably he is also putting pressure on himself. He shouldn’t do that and just play his game. He actually played well today but just got a superb delivery from Hazlewood. More than Shubman Gill getting himself out, it was a wicket-taking delivery that got him. But he does look to be under pressure, just observing his body language because he has replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain, while also opening alongside him. And on the other side, everyone is asking why Yashasvi Jaiswal isn’t playing. All that adds to his pressure. But he’ll get over it as he’s a fantastic player.”

Shubman Gill will now face Australia in a five-match T20I series starting October 29 onwards in Canberra.