Shubman Gill disappointed on not being selected for West Indies tour, says not 'going to spend time thinking over it'

Shubman Gill was one of the names expected to feature in India’s limited-overs squad for their tour of West Indies. But it wasn’t to be. After a bitter end to India’s World Cup campaign, the selectors were expected to give opportunities to new players and young batsmen to solve the middle-order mess. And they did call in Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey, rewarding them for their recent good performances during India A’s tour of West Indies, but Gill found no place in neither the  T20I nor the ODI squad. [caption id=“attachment_4337881” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Shubman Gill. AFP[/caption] This was despite Gill finishing as the highest run-getter with a total of 218 at an average of 54.50 in the recently concluded unofficial ODI series between India A and West Indies A. The 19-year-old, who won under-19 World Cup for India in 2018, made his India debut in ODIs during the New Zealand tour earlier this year as a replacement for suspended KL Rahul. And that is what he remains — replacement. Chief selector MSK Prasad during the squad announcement said: “KL Rahul was suspended during New Zealand series so that’s why Shubman Gill was given chance in that series. Since KL Rahul is back in the Indian squad, Shubman Gill has to wait. He will be considered in the future.” Th youngster is naturally disappointed to see his name missing from all of the squads. In an interview with CricketNext, Gill said his focus is now on performing consistently to impress selectors. “I was waiting for the Indian senior team to be announced on Sunday and I expected to be selected for at least one of the squads. It was disappointing not to get picked but I am not going to spend time thinking over it. I’ll keep scoring runs and performing to the best of my ability to impress the selectors,” Gill said to CricketNext. Gill also spoke about the changes he has brought into his game to make him more effective as a batsman. “The biggest lesson that I have learned from my first West Indies tour is to try to curb my natural game depending on match condition. It’s important to block the good balls as well and remain at the crease for as long as possible. Person who is set at the crease needs to bat through the difficult period,” he said. The Punjab lad’s next assignment is the three unofficial Tests against West Indies A side and for Gill, he should let his bat do the talking.