It's time to show that I deserve that spot: Gill after 55-ball 126

The knock silenced those who were questioning his selection in India’s T20 squad for the New Zealand series ahead of Shaw

For their Twenty20 side, the India team wants batters who go after the bowling from the word go. Current captain Rohit Sharma has set the example by changing his game as per the new template and going for his shots no matter what the match situation is.

Shubman Gill(BCCI Domestic)

Going forward after the World Cup, that is the kind of players who will be tried out. Prithvi Shaw has a natural, ultra-aggressive game but the selectors are still not convinced about his consistency.

Instead his teammate from the 2018 Under-19 team, Shubman Gill is among the first ones who will be tried out as India look to form the nucleus for the future side. Compared to Shaw, Gill is a batter in the classical mould but he knows the demands of the shorter format and has shown he has the extra gear to fit in.

On Tuesday, the Punjab player provided more proof of it with a 55-ball 126 against Karnataka in their Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy match at the Eden Gardens.

It was a statement to silence those who were questioning his selection in India’s T20 squad for the New Zealand series ahead of Shaw who has put pressure on the selectors with impressive performances this season. The Mumbai batter has been in good form for Mumbai in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s being their top scorer in the league stage with a tally of 285 in seven innings at a strike rate of 191.27.

In fact, Tuesday’s games at the Eden Gardens were being seen as a Gill versus Shaw contest with both players in action in the quarterfinals of the national T20 championship.

After Gill dazzled for Punjab in the morning, Shaw had a chance to match his U-19 teammates’ performance when he turned out for Mumbai in the evening against Saurashtra. The game, though, didn’t go as per plan for the Mumbai opener as he fell for just two runs. On the other hand, Gill didn’t put a foot wrong, smashing nine sixes to score at a strike-rate of 229.09 to help Punjab to a total of 225 for four.

“It's always good to see your name in the Indian team in any format and it's time to show that I deserve that spot," said Gill at the presentation ceremony after being named the man of the match.

The two dashing opening batters are on course for a direct face-off though after Punjab won a high-scoring thriller against Karnataka and Mumbai held their nerve to chase down Saurashtra’s total of 166 for eight to enter the semis. Punjab will play Himachal Pradesh and Mumbai take on Vidarbha in the last four contests scheduled for Thursday.

Their overall impacts are similar, but Gill and Shaw’s approach is different. Shaw once again went hard against the Saurashtra bowlers but it didn’t click on Tuesday as he was caught behind trying to slash at a Chetan Sakariya delivery. Gill said he built his innings after getting set.

“We have seen there is seam movement for the team bowling first (at Eden Gardens), we spoke about not losing wickets in the powerplay, that was the plan. Once you are set, you can score big and in the previous match, I made the mistake of going hard after not scoring big in the powerplay. As the ball gets older, it's easier to score and build momentum. In the last match, I fell early and there was big partnership, today Abhishek and Prabhsimran fell early, me and Anmolpreet had a partnership, (it) shows that everyone in the team is in form and we are batting with a lot of confidence,” said Gill.

The 126 against Karnataka has come as no surprise. During the last IPL, the opener had taken his game up a notch to meet the demands of the format. He was the second-highest run-getter for IPL champions Gujarat Titans in the 2022 season, scoring 483 runs in 16 innings at a strike rate of 132.32. With knocks of 46-ball 84 against Delhi Capitals and 59-ball 96 against Punjab Kings, he made everyone sit up and take notice.

In a recent interview to ESPNCricinfo, he spoke about how reducing dot balls by relying more on rotating strike against spin is the key to a good strike rate. "I believe that the fewer dot balls you play in T20s, the better your strike rate will be. Almost all batsmen have the same boundary percentage, but the ones with fewer dot balls have a higher strike rate. In T20s, you need to know what the bowler is trying to do. Those who bowl in a set way, you can dominate them,” said Gill.

Brief scores: Quarterfinals:

Saurashtra 166/8 lost to Mumbai 168/8.

Bengal 199/6 lost to Himachal Pradesh 200/6.

Vidarbha 157/5 beat Delhi 156/6.

Punjab 225/4 beat Karnataka 216/6.