West Indies vs India: Shubman Gill "Can't Play T20s"? Ex-India Star Gives His Honest Verdict

Young India batter Shubman Gill was on the receiving end of some harsh criticism after failing to score a big knock in the first three T20Is against West Indies. Some had even suggested that the young opener is not a T20 player. However, Gill silenced his critics in the penultimate game of the series, smashing 77 off 47 balls as India won the game by nine wickets. Impressed with his knock in the fourth T20I, former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel hit back at Gill's critics.

Patel suggested that fans and experts should back the player, instead of attacking him after a few bad games.

"Shubman Gill was outstanding today. We know the potential of Shubman Gill; we have the tendency of questioning someone who doesn't get runs. After just a couple of performances here and there, we should not say he can't play T20s or he can't play ODIs. We need to keep faith in players and an approach. When you are trying to play attacking cricket, you might get out, especially an opener playing T20 format," Patel said on Cricbuzz.

After the match, Gill opened up on his form after struggling to score in the first three matches of the T20I series.

"T20 format is like that. When you have 3-4 matches where a good shot is caught by the fielder, and you are eyeing quick runs, you don't have time to think much," Gill said in a video uploaded by BCCI.

"It's important to go to your basics. You just look at what your template was when you were consistently scoring runs. You have to identify whether you are making any mistake. I felt I wasn't making a mistake in any of the three matches. But I couldn't convert my starts," he added.

Notably, Gill won the Orange Cap during IPL 2023, but Gujarat Titans lost the final to Chennai Super Kings.