Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shubman Gill to finally get game time against Goa

JAIPUR: By now, Shubman Gill has likely made peace with his absence from the T20 World Cup squad. His signature brand of classical aggression, the very template that has been a big success for him and his IPL team Gujarat Titans, seemingly fell out of favour, with the selectors’ opting instead for a high-octane T20 opening pair.

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Gill now returns to the format most naturally aligned with his style of play — the 50-over game. He is expected to be back in Punjab’s XI for their Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group C match against Goa here on Tuesday, after having missed the previous game against Sikkim. Gill trained with the squad at the Rajasthan Cricket Association Academy on Monday, going through warm-ups before batting in the nets against pace and spin. He later took part in catching drills and stayed back for extra throwdowns.




The remaining group games are important for Punjab’s qualification push and for their net run rate. Punjab lead Group C with 16 points from five matches, while Mumbai are also on 16, making the final two fixtures significant.

For Gill, the VHT games also serve as match practice ahead of India’s ODI series against New Zealand starting Jan 11, in which he is set to captain. The BCCI has encouraged centrally-contracted players to feature in domestic cricket when fit and not on national duty.


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