Shubman Gill urged to ‘cement his place’ in South Africa T20I series: ‘We believe in all-format players’

By Samira Vishwas On Dec 9, 2025

Shubman Gill returns to the field in Indian colours when their five-match T20I series against South Africa begins on Tuesday. Gill had been injured on the first day of the Test series against South Africa, which led to him missing the rest of it and the ODI series as well. Gill is vice captain to Suryakumar Yadav in T20Is and is seen as the future captain, having already taken up those roles in ODIs and Tests. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that he should now cement his place at the top of the order over the course of the next five games, especially considering how close this series is to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

“Shubman Gill should cement his place at the top of the order in T20 cricket,” Pathan said on Star Sports. “We believe in all-format players. We have seen how well he plays in the IPL. Now, he has a chance to cement his place in India’s T20 International side. There is a little pressure, but he is a good player. I hope he performs well in this five-match T20I series against South Africa. He is coming back from a small injury. He will get a lot of opportunities across five matches on good pitches. The pitches will have pace and bounce, like in Dharamshala, and he will love batting on them.”

Gill’s inclusion as an opener in the T20I squad has been seen as more due to his status as a leader of the side than his performances, considering the likes of Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal all boast much higher strike rates consistently than him. At the same time, though, Gill’s performances have generally seen a significant uptick this year, especially since he was made Test captain after Rohit Sharma’s retirement from the format.

Pathan also feels that a crucial element in India’s chances to defend their T20 World Cup title will be who can be a finisher for India along with Hardik Pandya lower down the order. “I would like to see who plays the role of a finisher with Hardik Pandya, and how they do it. This is a very big aspect. If we have to defend the World Cup, which is in India, it is crucial that our lower-middle order batters stay in form. Along with Hardik, the other batters become very important. Axar Patel can do that, Jitesh Sharma is there, Rinku Singh can also come in. But we have to see who will complement Hardik down the order. My eyes will be on that,” he added.