Youngsters Shubman Gill and Rituraj Gaikwad are been seen as potential replacements for the recently retired Virat Kohli in the Indian T20I team. However, while Shubman Gill has been named India’s vice-captain of white-ball teams, Ruturaj Gaikwad finds himself struggling to get a chance in the Indian team.
Gill has scored 539 runs in 20 T20I matches, with an average of 29.94 and a strike rate of 142.59. The 24-year-old has one hundred and three fifties to his name, with the highest score being 126*.
Gaikwad, on the other hand, has 633 runs in 20 T20I innings at an average of 39.56 and a strike rate of 143.53, including a century and four fifties.
Notably, Gaikwad was left out of the T20I squad for the present Sri Lanka series, despite his outstanding performance in the shortest format since 2023. He has scored 498 runs in his last 12 innings, with an average of 62.25 and a strike rate of 150. Gaikwad also hit one hundred and three fifties.
Robin Uthappa picks between Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad as Virat Kohli’s replacement
Given that both players have only recently begun their international careers, it will be interesting to see who can stand the test of time and emerge as the next big thing in the format after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has expressed his opinion on the topic, stating that the management should try to maintain both in the playing XI considering their immense talent. However, he believes Ruturaj is more consistent than Gill, but he also praises Gill’s excellent blend of elegance and power.
“Why can’t we have both of them because they’re just good players. Their numbers speak for itself, both have phenomenal numbers in T20 cricket. You can’t pick between the two. If we look at consistency, you will see that Ruturaj is a little more consistent as far as numbers are concerned. But Shubman Gill gives you the versatility of having touch and power as well.
It’s hard to pick between the two of them, ideally, you would like to have both of them to play and why shouldn’t India have both of them play is what I’m asking because both of them are all format players,” Uthappa said on Sony Sports.