3 reasons why India must not drop Shubman Gill despite poor returns amid IND vs SA 2025 T20Is

India's T20I vice-captain, Shubman Gill, has been going through poor form in the format. In the ongoing five-match series against South Africa, he has scores of 4 and 0 in the first two games. The pressure has been mounting on Gill to deliver, with questions raised about his spot in the T20I side.

Shubman Gill returned to the T20I side for the Asia Cup 2025. However, his returns have been poor since his comeback. In 14 games, he has scored just 263 runs at an average of 23.90 with a top score of 47.

To include Gill, Sanju Samson was dropped down the order. Samson had been doing well with Abhishek Sharma at the top. The management and staff have shown immense faith and have stuck with Gill at the top despite his poor form.

Having made his T20I debut in 2023, he has featured in 35 matches, scoring 841 runs at an average of 28.03 and a strike-rate of 140.40 with a hundred and three half-centuries.

That said, here are three reasons why India must now drop Shubman Gill despite his poor returns in the South Africa series so far.

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#3 Shubman Gill is the vice-captain and possibly the future T20I captain

Shubman Gill had last played a T20I in July 2024 before the Asia Cup 2025. He was made vice-captain for the multinational tournament with Suryakumar Yadav at the helm. Notably, Gill is already the captain of the Indian team in Tests and ODIs.

Gill's elevation to T20I vice-captain under Suryakumar Yadav, along with his existing leadership in Tests and ODIs, shows India's long-term vision for him as an all-format captain, demanding persistence beyond his current slump.

Dropping him now would disrupt the succession and lead to a leadership vacuum post-Suryakumar, especially with the 2026 T20 World Cup around the corner as well.

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#2 Gill has changed his approach in recent times

Following his poor showing in the first two T20Is, India's assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate defended Shubman Gill and believed that he would regain form heading into the T20 World Cup.

In the T20I series against Australia before the South Africa series, Gill showed a positive approach in the final game. Before it was washed out eventually, he made an unbeaten 29 of 16 balls with six boundaries at a strike rate of 181.25.

"Shubman, I saw some good signs of a change in mentality on the back end of that Australian tour. I wouldn’t read too much into these two dismissals in this series. In the first game, we asked the guys to go out there and attack the powerplay, and it wasn’t a great wicket at Cuttack, so I’ll let him off for that one. Today, I thought he got a good ball that can happen when you’re short on form," Doeschate said during the post-match press conference after the second T20I. (via India Today)

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#1 Gill could be one big knock away from regaining his form

Shubman Gill has been doing well in Tests and ODIs. He could be one big knock away from regaining his form in the shortest format as well. Whenever Gill has gotten a big score, he has often backed it up with big knocks in the past. For example, he had scored two consecutive tons and three hundreds in four innings overall in IPL 2023.

Moreover, with the squad likely to remain the same for the upcoming New Zealand T20Is and the T20 World Cup, there is little time remaining to experiment and make changes. The management would like to back the same set of players and ensure they get enough game time and match practice heading into the mega event.