After King Kohli bids adieu to T20I time for Prince Gill to stake claim of throne

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jul 6, 2024 11:30 IST

Following India’s historic T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies, the Men in Blue have lost arguably the greatest batter in T20Is in Virat Kohli. The 35-year-old bid adieu to the game being the highest run scorer in the history of T20 World Cup (1292 runs) and the second highest run scorer in T20Is (4188 runs).

In his illustrious career, Kohli took India home from several precarious situations after an early batting collapse stamping his authority as the ‘chase master’ in the shortest format of the game. However, with him gone, team India has massive shoes to fill as they look the find a worthy successor of the king.

Hailed as the prince of Indian cricket for his rapid rise at the international level, India captain for the Zimbabwe tour, Shubman Gill, will be eager to make a strong case for the king’s throne in the upcoming series. In the 14 matches played in his T20I career so far, Gill has scored 335 runs from 14 innings at an average of 25.76 and a strike rate of 147.57.

The 24-year-old has also registered the highest individual score by an Indian batter in T20Is having scored a magnificent 126* (63) against New Zealand in February 2023 in Ahmedabad. However, Gill hasn’t had a memorable in the shortest format after scoring his century as he only has just one 50-plus score in the last eight innings.

During this time period, the right-handed batter has scored 133 runs from eight innings at an average of 16.62 and a strike rate of 126.66, out of which 77 came in just one innings against West Indies in August 2023. Gill further had a decent IPL season earlier this year where he scored 426 runs from 12 innings at an average of 38.72 and a strike rate of 147.40 with one hundred and two fifties.

Gill to embark on India's new chapter in T20Is

However, it didn’t prove to be enough for him to find a place in the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 where he got included as a reserve. Hence, the upcoming series will be the perfect platform for Gill to start afresh in his T20I career and fill in the massive spot left behind by Virat Kohli.

The Punjab-born batter has shown enough promise at the international level in the two formats so far and will be eager to bring all his talent to the fore in the shortest format as well to embark on a new journey for the Indian T20I side.