Last Updated:
Mohammad Kaif urges India to drop Shubman Gill despite his vice-captaincy, calling for no double standards and backing Sanju Samson for a fair run.
Shubman Gill was out for a golden duck in Mullanpur. (PTI Photo)
Former international Mohammad Kaif has advised India to consider dropping Shubman Gill from the T20I side for the remainder of the ongoing five-match series against South Africa. Kaif said Gill’s vice-captaincy status shouldn’t come in the way of the team’s interest, and that there shouldn’t be any ‘double standards’ either.
Gill returned to the T20I side as an opener in the 2025 Asia Cup. To make space for him, India pushed the in-form Samson to the middle-order. Both players struggled in the new roles, but only Samson was dropped.
Gill has yet to score a half-century or hit more than two sixes in a match. His latest dismissal was a golden duck at home in the second T20I of the South Africa series.
“Look at how he is getting out, caught at slip, stepping out and mistiming, trying aggressive strokes like Abhishek Sharma and getting caught,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel. “He has tried everything. I think the time has come to give him a break and try players who are proven. Sanju Samson is a top-quality player; he hasn’t received enough chances. There should not be double standards. Even vice-captains have been dropped before. If it is in the team’s interest to rest Gill and bring in someone else, there is nothing wrong with it.”
Kaif said it was ‘clearly visible’ that only some players get extended runs in the team while others have to contend with ‘very few chances’.
“But now it feels like the time has come for changes. You dropped players like Jaiswal, you kept Sanju Samson on the bench without giving him consistent chances, even though he scored heavily as an opener. He hit three centuries in five T20 innings, something no one in history has done. Some players get very few chances, while others get extended runs because you want to settle them in the team. That is clearly visible. But now, I think the pressure has increased so much that it is time for a change somewhere,” he added.
India and South Africa play the third T20I in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 13, 2025, 09:10 IST
Read More
