Shubman Gill will join Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy team for their group league games against Sikkim and Goa in early January. There was some doubt about whether Gill would be able to play, but sources in the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) say that he has personally promised the state body that he will be there for the games in Bengaluru on January 3 and 6.
That means that fans can look forward to seeing India’s Test and ODI captain play in Punjab’s important group stage games. His presence should help the batting order a lot as they try to get off to a good start in the tournament. Punjab’s chances of going further in the Vijay Hazare Trophy look much better now that Gill has been confirmed for these two matches.
Shubman Gill was recently dropped from the T20 World Cup squad:
In the first week of January, Shubman Gill is expected to play for Punjab in their group league games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Sikkim and Goa. A person close to the Punjab Cricket Association said, “He will join the team in Jaipur around January 1 for those two games.” People talked about him playing in the whole tournament, but now it looks like he can only play in these two games. He might also be able to play in the last group game against Mumbai, but only if the schedule allows it.
The source added, “While he is interested in playing the final group league fixture against Mumbai as well, it will all depend on the BCCI’s scheduling for the camps ahead of the home series against New Zealand.”
India’s home series against New Zealand starts on January 11. The team will probably have a training camp in Vadodara a few days before that, which could mean that Gill will miss the Mumbai game. Gill, who was recently dropped from the T20 World Cup squad, has been out for a while because of an injury to his right foot and missed the second Test against South Africa last month because of a problem with his neck.
People thought that he and Abhishek Sharma might play in the whole Vijay Hazare Trophy because the BCCI wanted centrally contracted players to play in domestic cricket when they weren’t busy. However, that now seems unlikely.
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