Former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has said that Team India should give more chances to young India opener Shubman Gill, instead of others, considering the 2023 ODI World Cup in their mind as well. However, the veteran was unhappy with KL Rahul’s performance and he said that Rahul got enough chances but he failed to grab those so far.
Notably, Rahul was part of India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign in Australia. He scored the fifties against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe but failed to score against the bigger teams. However, Rahul has been given the rest alongside the captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as well. In Rahul’s absence, Shubman Gill is likely to open along with Shikhar Dhawan in the ODIs which will begin on Friday (November 25).
Backing Gill as the opner even after the New Zealand series, Kaneria said on his YouTube channel:
“India will have to look at Shubman Gill, keeping the (2023) World Cup in mind. He is a fantastic player. Rohit Sharma will remain captain in ODIs, but he will need good players. KL Rahul has been given enough chances, but he did not deliver. He was not consistent. But Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson have been giving consistent performances,” he again shared.
“He is a fantastic player” – Danish Kaneria on Shubman Gill
It is also noteworthy that, earlier in the year, Shubman Gill did exceptionally well in the ODIs during India’s tours of the West Indies and Zimbabwe. He was the Player of the Series in both series also.
“Rohit hasn’t been bad as a leader, but they were missing some aggression and energy, something which we saw when Virat Kohli was captain. When you have a player like Suryakumar Yadav in your team, you need to show that energy. The way Pandya batted on Tuesday (in the third T20I), his 30* off 18 was very crucial. Pandya’s captaincy was really good. The way he excelled as a leader, it looks like he will be the captain of the Indian T20I team in the future,” Danish Kaneria concluded.
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