Shubman Gill’s journey continues: From Test masterclass to Asia Cup T20 vice-captaincy looms

Dubai: Shubman Gill’s stellar performances in Test cricket have not only made history but are also setting the stage for a new leadership role in India’s Twenty20 set-up. The 25-year-old Indian Test captain recently became the first male cricketer to claim the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award four times, thanks to a sensational display during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England.

Gill’s July 2025 exploits included 567 runs in three Tests at an average of 94.50, featuring a double century and two centuries. His record-breaking 269 and 161 in the Edgbaston Test helped India secure a commanding 336-run victory. These innings saw him surpass iconic records held by Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar and set the second-highest match aggregate in Test history with 430 runs.

This latest honour marks Gill’s fourth Player of the Month award, adding to his wins in February 2025 and January and September 2023. He is the first male cricketer to reach this milestone, joining Australia’s Ash Gardner and West Indies captain Hayley Matthews as the only players to win four monthly awards.

“It feels great to be named the ICC Player of the Month for July,” Gill said. “This time, it holds more significance since it comes during my first Test series as captain. The double ton in Birmingham is something I will cherish forever.”

Several records fell to Gill during that innings: he became the first Indian captain to score a Test double century on English soil, and only the second Indian skipper to hit a double hundred outside India, after Virat Kohli’s 2016 effort against the West Indies. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s 221 (1979) for the highest Test score by an Indian batter in England and broke Sachin Tendulkar’s 21-year-old record of 241 to set the highest overseas score by an Indian outside India and other Asian nations.

While Gill’s historic Test performances have captivated fans and critics alike, the focus now shifts to the upcoming Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament, scheduled to begin on September 9 in the UAE. Reports indicate that the BCCI selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, faces a challenging decision on whether to include Gill in the T20 squad — and potentially entrust him with the vice-captaincy.

“Abhishek Sharma is the world’s No. 1 T20 batter according to ICC rankings. Sanju Samson was brilliant last season with both bat and gloves. Shubman’s IPL and Test form can’t be ignored, but the problem is there are too many performers at the top,” a BCCI insider told PTI.

This abundance of talent at the top order creates a logjam, making it difficult for players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and IPL 2025 leading scorer Sai Sudharsan to break into the squad. KL Rahul, despite being India’s first-choice ODI wicketkeeper-batsman, is unlikely to fit into the T20 set-up due to the middle-order structure.

From playing on the pitch to analysing it from the press box, Satish has spent over three decades living and breathing sport. A cricketer-turned-journalist, he has covered three Cricket World Cups, the 2025 Champions Trophy, countless IPL seasons, F1 races, horse racing classics, and tennis in Dubai. Cricket is his home ground, but he sees himself as an all-rounder - breaking stories, building pages, going live on podcasts, and interviewing legends across every corner of the sporting world. Satish started on the back pages, and earned his way to the front, now leading the sports team at Gulf News, where he has spent 25 years navigating the fast-evolving game of journalism. Whether it’s a Super-Over thriller or a behind-the-scenes story, he aims to bring insight, energy, and a fan’s heart to every piece. Because like sport, journalism is about showing up, learning every day, and giving it everything.

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