NEW DELHI: Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed the decision to appoint Shubman Gill as the new ODI captain, saying the star opener looks “ready for big challenges”. He also said Gill will get more opportunities in the T20I format after being 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 against Australia away from home, is now gearing up for his maiden ODI series at home, against New Zealand, starting January 11. While the hard-fought 2-2 draw against England in the UK and his tally of 754 runs, including four centuries, remain the highlights of his short tenure as Test captain, he is yet to make a significant impact as both a batter and leader in ODIs.
In T20Is too, Gill failed to meet expectations after returning as vice-captain during the Asia Cup, managing just 291 runs in his last 15 innings without registering a fifty since his comeback.Speaking to ANI about Gill’s return to ODIs following a neck injury sustained during the South Africa Tests and his omission from the T20 World Cup squad, Harbhajan said, “Gill was bound to make a comeback. I had no doubt that there was any question about Shubman’s return. I think Shubman Gill was left out solely because of the T20 format and the combination Team India wanted. Otherwise, I never had any doubt that he would not be in the ODI or Test team. So, he has returned as captain. I hope the team plays well, and this series will also be won by India.”Harbhajan termed the T20 World Cup squad selected by chief selector Ajit Agarkar as a “10/10 team” and said that while he felt disappointed for Gill, the opener would get his chances soon.“The team is really good. I had told that Ajit should be given 10/10 for the team. I felt a little bad for Shubman, but he will get more chances soon. All the players are match winners in their own right. Hope we can win back-to-back World Cups because we have that team,” he said.Justifying the decision to appoint Gill as ODI captain, Harbhajan said it was taken with an eye on the future and added that he believes Gill is ready for the responsibility.“I think the decision has been taken keeping the future in mind. Sometimes you do feel things have been done quickly. But I think he is ready for this job. This is a high-demand job; he is young. The sooner he learns the art of captaincy and team management, the better the results will be. That England Test series was one of the finest I have ever seen. Scoring so many runs and leading from the front shows that he has worked harder than anybody else. Whatever I know of Shubman, he is ready for big challenges,” he added.Harbhajan also praised India’s “match-winning” spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav selected for the T20 World Cup.“Spin is nice for India. Kuldeep, Varun and Axar are all spinners and can win you the match in one spell. Players are still not able to decipher Varun. Kuldeep has that variation. This is a nice combination of spinners, hope they stay injury-free and serve India for a long time,” he said.He further backed skipper Suryakumar Yadav, despite his modest returns 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 game.“Suryakumar has not made many runs, but when the WC comes, we will need big players to fire. He will shine bright in that big match. Abhishek (Sharma) can win you matches on your own. The form Hardik (Pandya) is in, he is a key player. We also have Arshdeep (Singh) and (Jasprit) Bumrah in pace,” he concluded.
