As the two veteran players- captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have stepped down from the shortest format of the game, the Indian team awaits a huge transition in the batting department. The batting coach of the national side, Vikram Rathour has called Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal to carry the future of Indian batting on their shoulder.
As both Rohit and Kohli have called their time from the T20Is, and it won’t be longer before they do the same across all three formats, the responsibility lies to the young batters to carry Indian cricket forward.
Shubman Gill was given the privilege of leading the young team in the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe, where his opening partner for the last three games was Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was also a part of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
‘Players like Shubman Gill, and Dhruv Jurel will make the transition smooth’- Vikram Rathour
Gill has started his T20I career on a decent note, as he has captured 505 runs in 19 innings, at an average of just under 30 and a strike rate of around 140, celebrating three fifties and one century, with a best-of-unbeaten 126 runs.
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On the flip side of the coin, Jaiswal has made an incredible beginning in the shortest format of the game. The left-hander has already smashed 643 T20I runs in 19 innings, at an average of nearly 38, with a strike rate of over 160, with five half-centuries and one hundred.
In the eyes of Vikram Rathour, the transition was already on display during the T20I series against Zimbabwe, where the young batters took charge.
‘It is never going to be easy to replace people of Rohit and Virat’s caliber.’ The former India batter expressed during a recent interview with PTI. ‘The recently-concluded series against Zimbabwe gave us some glimpse into how the T20 team will look like in future. But we still have a few years in Test and ODI cricket to get to that point.’
Shubman Gill finished the T20I series as the highest run-getter, with 170 runs in five innings, at an average of 42.50, and a strike rate of 125.92, with a couple of fifties. Jaiswal stood at the second position in the list, with 141 runs in three innings, averaging 70.50 thanks to his aggressive strike rate of nearly 170, with one half-century.
Rathour believes that Indian cricket has a lot of depth, with skillful and talented players coming through their system, which doesn’t concern him at all.
‘I won’t be too concerned about it. We have a lot of depth in Indian cricket. There are lots of very talented and skillful players who are coming through the system.’ The 51-year-old elaborated. ‘The only thing we need to make sure is the transition is done in a controlled manner. It needs to be gradual.’
Vikram keeps his faith in the rising superstars like Gill, Jaiswal, and Rishabh Pant in T20Is or KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya in the 50-over format to help India make a smooth transition.
‘I am hoping that by then, players like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Dhruv Jurel to name a few, would establish themselves and will make the transition smooth.’ Rathour noted. ‘In ODIs also, we have experienced players like Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya to take over.’
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He finished by saying that Shubman Gill and Jaiswal would stand tall across all three formats, becoming the nucleus of Indian batting as time passes.
‘There are many exciting players coming through but these two are equipped to play all three formats for a long time. They are going to be the backbone of Indian batting in years to come.’ The former batting coach concluded.
India’s next trip will be in Sri Lanka where they will play both the white-ball formats, starting on July 27.
