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Deep Dasgupta urges Shubman Gill to anchor like Virat Kohli, backs Suryakumar Yadav, and discusses split coaching.
Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill batting together for India (PTI)
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta believes that India’s T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill, currently struggling within the shortest format, must emulate the role Virat Kohli played by consistently anchoring one end.
The Indian Test and ODI captain, who rejoined the T20I setup through the Asia Cup and was named deputy to Suryakumar Yadav, has only managed 291 runs in 15 innings, a performance not reflective of his fame.
“For me Shubman’s role could be very different, because for those who see a lot of the other players are stoke players, so it’s a form of role that Virat played so well and did so well through the years, that’s holding on one end while everyone plays around,” Deep was quoted as saying to PTI.
He further mentioned that Gill ought to be the focus around whom the remaining of the batting lineup revolves. “I believe I see Shubman in that role that Virat played. He’s that fulcrum that everybody plays around him, not necessarily a high strike rate as others but consistent than the others that’s the role that I see,” he added.
Defending champions India will start their T20 World Cup title defence against the USA in Mumbai on February 7. Dasgupta feels each captain Suryakumar Yadav and Gill, who’re struggling for runs, should deal with spending more time on the crease.
“I don’t think it should be bothering them, but ideally you’ll want them (Gill and Sky) to begin firing again. For those who want them to be fearless, that may include a price and that price being consistency. That’s one thing that you’ve gotten to be mindful about,” he said.
“But there shall be concern and we’d ideally want Surya and everybody to be in form and unfortunately we don’t have many matches before the World Cup. But they’re ok, hopefully it’s only a matter of time.”
Format-Clever Boss?
Regarding the talk on split coaching for the Indian team after the humiliating Test series whitewash against South Africa, Dasgupta termed it a short-term fix and stressed the necessity for a comprehensive solution for the red-ball side.
“Those are like band-aid solutions, right? I believe where Indian Test team is, I believe we want a deeper solution, a more rounded solution than simply band-aid,” he said. “I believe we, it’s such as you’re treating the symptoms, right? So I believe it’ll be a knee-jerk response to simply take into consideration those things. I don’t know whether that may occur or not occur, but that’s not how I see it.”
Ro-Ko Future
On the prospects of India’s batting veterans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, heading into the 2027 World Cup, he said there was never any doubt about their abilities.
“I believe the general public never had a doubt when it comes to what they’ll do or what they’ll. I mean, they’re absolute giants of the sport. So there was, I could be quite silly to doubt their credentials,” he said.
“The massive query is sustainability. I mean, I’m glad they’re playing Vijay Hazare and I hope they keep playing till 2027. Comparative cricket where it’s domestic in India, perhaps outside, perhaps play in England in the summertime. And clearly, there could be international games from now until 2027″
Regarding Chennai Super Kings signing star wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, Deep believes the management mustn’t rush him right into a leadership role but allow him to settle in and regularly integrate into the setup.
“Obviously, he could be a part of the leadership group but then I would really like to see him be eased into that relatively than forced into it,” he said.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Click here so as to add News18 as your chosen news source on Google. December 15, 2025, 23:15 IST
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