NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh supported the decision to appoint Shubman Gill As the new ODI captain, he said the star opener is “ready for big challenges”. He also said Gill will get more opportunities in the T20I format after he was left out of the T20 World Cup squad despite a brief stint as the team’s vice-captain.Gill, who lost his first ODI series as captain away against Australia, is now preparing for his first ODI series at home, against New Zealand, starting on January 11. While the hard-fought 2-2 draw against England in the United Kingdom and his tally of 754 runs, including four centuries, remain the highlights of his short reign as Test captain, he is yet to make a significant impact as a batsman and leader in ODIs.
Gill has also underperformed in T20Is, having returned as vice-captain during the Asia Cup, managing just 291 runs in his last 15 innings without registering a fifty since his comeback.Talking to ANI about Gill’s return to the ODIs after a neck injury sustained during the South Africa Tests and his exit from the T20 World Cup squad, Harbhajan said, “Gill had to make a comeback. I had no doubt that there was any question about Shubman’s return. I think Shubman Gill was left out only because of the T20 format and the combination that Team India wanted. Other than that, I never had any doubt that he didn’t would be in the ODI or Test team.” So he returned as captain. I hope the team plays well and India wins this series too.”Harbhajan described the T20 World Cup squad picked by chief selector Ajit Agarkar as a “10/10 team” and said that while he was disappointed with Gill, the opener will get its chances soon.“The team is really good. I had said Ajit should get 10/10 for the team. I felt a little bad for Shubman but he will get more chances soon.” All players are match winners in their own right. I hope we can win two World Cups in a row because we have this team,” he said.Explaining the decision to appoint Gill as ODI captain, Harbhajan said it was taken with the future in mind and added that he believes Gill is ready for the responsibility.“I think the decision was made with the future in mind. Sometimes you feel like things were done quickly. But I think he’s ready for this job.” This is a high demand job; he is young. The sooner he learns the art of captaincy and team leadership, the better the results will be. This England Test series was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. To score so many runs and lead from the front shows he has worked harder than anyone else. Whatever I know about Shubman, he is ready for big challenges,” he added.Harbhajan also praised India’s “match-winning” spin trio Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who were selected for the T20 World Cup.“Spin is good for India. Kuldeep, Varun and Axar are all spinners and can win the game in one game. Players are still not able to decipher Varun. Kuldeep has that variation. This is a nice combination of spinners. I hope they stay injury-free and serve India for a long time,” he said.He also backed captain Suryakumar Yadav, despite his modest tally of 218 runs in 19 innings last year at an average of 13.62 without a fifty, to deliver in a crucial T20 World Cup match.“Suryakumar hasn’t scored many runs but when the World Cup comes, we will need big players to fire. He will shine in this big game. Abhishek (Sharma) can win your games on his own. The form Hardik (Pandya) is in, he is a key player. We also have Arshdeep (Singh) and (Jasprit) Bumrah at pace,” he concluded.
