Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir in press conference© PTI

Ruturaj Gaikwad wasn’t picked for India’s tour of Sri Lanka© X (Twitter)

Veteran Indian spinner Amit Mishra touched upon some of the most controversial topics in Indian cricket during a chat on a podcast. While speaking of the KL Rahul-Sanjeev Goenka incident to the Virat Kohli–Gautam Gambhir row, Mishra shed light on some highly talked-about topics in the sport. He also shared his views on Shubman Gill‘s elevation as India skipper, for the recently-concluded T20I series against Zimbabwe, saying he doesn’t feel the opening batter should’ve been given the responsibility. For Mishra, Ruturaj Gaikwad remains a better option in all aspects, even as a batter.

During a chat on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast on YouTube, Mishra had no hesitation in suggesting that he wouldn’t have made Gill India’s T20 captain for the Zimbabwe series. The veteran spinner admitted that the decision was a surprising one.

“Mai Shubman ko captain nahi banaunga, kyonki maine usey IPL me dekha, he doesn’t know ki captaincy kaise karna hai, uske paas captaincy ka idea hi nahi hai. (I would not have made him the captain. You saw the IPL this season, Gill doesn’t know how to captain the side, he is clueless),” he said on the show.

“Just because he is a part of the Indian team, he shouldn’t be made the captain. Gill has done well in the IPL over the last few seasons, he did fine in the Indian team as well. The Indian team made him the captain as they want to give him the leadership experience, which wasn’t visible when he led Gujarat Titans in IPL,” he added.

Amit Mishra said, “I’ve seen him (Shubman Gill) in the IPL, and he doesn’t know how to do captaincy. He has no idea about captaincy. Why they made him captain is a question. Just because he’s in the Indian team doesn’t mean he should be made captain.”

pic.twitter.com/7D9nf9aSpe

— (@SergioCSKK) July 15, 2024

Speaking of the captaincy options in the shortest format, Mishra cited the names of Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, and Ruturaj Gaikwad as some of the other options. While Gaikwad was a part of the Zimbabwe T20Is series since the beginning, Samson joined the team in the second match.

“There’s Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ruturaj Gaikwad who can lead India in T20Is. Right now, the BCCI is only looking to assess all option,” he said on being asked about the reason behind Gill’s elevation to the leadership role.

Everyone Favours Someone

“Everyone has some liking”, Mishra said on being asked if Rahul Dravid‘s ‘favouritism’ got him India captaincy. “I am not a Shubman Gill hater, I also like him. But, I feel Ruturaj is a better option because he has scored runs in tougher situations, be it for Chennai Super Kings or during the Asian Games. He is a good option, should be kept with the team, the way Yashasvi Jaiswal was with the Indian side at the T20 World Cup.”

“He is someone who can deliver in T20Is, ODIs and Tests. The most important thing is, who brings calmness to the team? He doesn’t play risky shots much. He should hire a good manager (for social media PR),” he further explained.

India vs Zimbabwe Live Streaming 4th T20I Live Telecast: When And Where To Watch Match Live© AFP

Shubman Gill can wrap up his first series win as India captain today as the team take on Zimbabwe in the fourth T20I of the five-match series. India head into the contest with a 2-1 lead. After a shock defeat in the first game, India bounced back in tremendous style with a 100-run win. The third T20I was a closer affair, with a valiant Zimbabwe falling just 23 runs short. Ahead of a decisive fourth T20I, let’s take a look at India’s possible XI for the game.

1. Shubman Gill (c) – The captain stays, having been India’s top run-scorer in two of the three T20Is, including a solid 66 in the previous T20I.

2. Yashasvi Jaiswal – Having returned from the third T20I, Jaiswal contributed 36 off 27 balls and will surely keep his place in the side.

3. Abhishek Sharma – The swashbuckling southpaw may have been demoted to no. 3, but there is no case for him to be dropped for the rest of the series after his exceptional century in the second T20I.

4. Ruturaj Gaikwad – The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain has quietly adapted well to middle-order duties, and narrowly missed out on a second successive half-century in the third T20I. Gaikwad is India’s leading run-scorer in the series so far.

5. Sanju Samson (wk) – Another player who joined after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 celebrations, Samson should keep his place in the XI as the wicket-keeper batsman.

6. Rinku Singh – Rinku Singh showed his finishing power in the second T20I with a 22-ball 48, and will keep his place in the side.

7. Shivam Dube – Despite playing every game for India in the T20 World Cup, Dube is expected to continue in the XI against Zimbabwe, being one of the more senior players in the squad.

8. Washington Sundar – Washington is making a great case for a regular India spot in the post-Ravindra Jadeja era in T20Is, having impressed with both bat and ball so far in the series. He finished with figures of 3/15 and won the ‘Player of the Match’ in the third T20I.

9. Ravi Bishnoi – The leg-spinner was the world’s no. 1 T20I bowler not too long ago, and will surely play every match in the series.

10. Tushar Deshpande – With Avesh Khan going for runs in the third T20I, a debut could be on the horizon for CSK star Tushar Deshpande.

11. Khaleel Ahmed – The left-arm seamer has been brilliant up front, and showed his class once again in the third T20I, giving away just 15 runs in his four-over spell.

“I am ahead of the trend,” Ruturaj Gaikwad captioned the post on his Instagram story.© BCCI

Star batter Suryakumar Yadav stayed put on second position in the latest ICC Men’s T20I batting rankings, which also features Ruturaj Gaikwad, who made significant progress following his exploits in the ongoing away series against Zimbabwe. Suryakumar is placed second with 821 rating points behind Australia’s Travis Head, who has 844 rating points. Phil Salt of England is paced third with 797 points, ahead of Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (755), Mohammad Rizwan (746) and Jos Buttler (716). Gaikwad has gained 13 places to climb to the seventh spot in the rankings on the back of a stellar 77 not out off 47 balls in a comprehensive 100-run win for India in the second T20I against Zimbabwe.

With most of India’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024-winning squad rested for the Zimbabwe tour, the five-game series has allowed India’s back-up players to showcase their talent, and with the retirement of stalwarts Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, the upcoming players can make a good case for a regular place in the side.

Apart from Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma also made solid gains among the India batters.

Rinku, who was among the reserves for the T20 World Cup, jumped four places to reach the 39th spot on the back of an attacking 48 not out from 22 balls in the second T20I.

And after a duck in the first game, all-rounder Abhishek smashed a stunning 100 from just 47 balls in the second game. With this spectacular knock, he entered the rankings for the first time at 75th spot.

Zimbabwe’s Brian Bennett gained 25 places to finish at the 96th position courtesy of his two attacking cameos, making 22 off 15 and 26 off nine in the two matches.

In the bowlers’ T20I chart, left-arm spinner Axar Patel dropped two places to be the lone Indian in top-10 at the ninth position with 644 rating points.

Fellow left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav also dropped three places to the 11th spot, while T20 World Cup’s player-of-the-tournament Jasprit Bumrah also slid two rungs to 14th position.

Besides, there were some movements in the top 10 positions of the bowling rankings, with Adam Zampa (7th), Fazalhaq Farooqi (8th), and Maheesh Theekshana (10th) gaining positions.

India’s Ravi Bishnoi, with his six scalps in the first two games against Zimbabwe, jumped eight places to move to the 14th spot.

Blessing Muzarabani also gained eight positions after the first two matches, up to 55th, with his spell of 1/17 instrumental in Zimbabwe winning the first T20I.

India vice-captain Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, dropped a place to the second position in the T20I all-rounders’ rankings.

Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka moved to pole position.

India’s Washington Sundar entered the top 50 on the back of his quickfire 27 in the first game, as well as his three wickets in two outings.

Axar is placed 12th in the all-rounders’ rankings.

India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad knows well that it will be “tough” and “hard” to replace retired Virat Kohli at number three spot in T20Is and said he is just focusing on making valuable contributions with the bat in whatever position the team leadership deems fit. The retirement of Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja from the shortest format following the T20 World Cup triumph has opened the doors for the upcoming players and Gaikwad is one such talented batter who has the potential to seal the No. 3 spot. “This is a big topic and I think it’s not the right point to think about it. To even compare with him (Kohli) or try to fill in his shoes is relatively very tough and very hard,” Gaikwad said on the eve of the third T20I against Zimbabwe.

“As I had said in the IPL as well, it is difficult to fill Mahi Bhai’s shoes as well. Definitely, you want to start your career, you want to start the way you want, you want to play your own game. So that’s the priority right now.”

“Focus on one game, focus on how you can contribute towards the team in whichever position you play and make sure you are on the winning side more often than not.”

Gaikwad has batted at No. 3 position for India in the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe but the Pune-born cricketer said he has no preference and will bat wherever the team requires him.

“No, wherever the team wants, I will bat there. There is no problem. There is not much difference between the opening and the number 3 because you have to play the new ball. So there is not much difference,” he said.

Gaikwad led the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL this year and he said captaincy has made him to get more involved in the game though it didn’t make any difference to his batting.

“Actually, to be honest, nothing has changed much. Because my batting has been the same as before. I have to play with responsibility and try and finish it on my own,” he said.

“It’s just that the way you look at the game, I think every time you are more involved now in the game since you have captained the IPL franchise for a long period of time.

“So you tend to be into the game for a longer period of time instead of just staying in the boundary outside and just focusing on one ball. As I said, batting wise it’s not made much difference.”

Young opener Abhishek Sharma had spoken about how Gaikwad helped him in “keeping perspective” as he went hammer and tongs to blast a match-winning 47-ball 100 in the second T20I.

“Actually, communication is not from a senior player,” Gaikwad said.

“It comes from a batting partner because obviously with non-strikers you feel something about a particular bowler or particular conditions and you have to have that confidence to go and share with your partner whatever you feel and what are the right options, what to do in certain situations.

“Definitely this is something which I have been doing it being part of all the teams whether state team, IPL team or Indian team as well…” 

Legendary former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrated his 43rd birthday in the company of Bollywood icon Salman Khan in Mumbai. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star Ruturaj Gaikwad also took some time away from his Zimbabwe tour with Team India to wish MS Dhoni via a video call. Dhoni and his wife Sakshi are presently in Mumbai to attend the Sangeet celebrations of Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani’s wedding. A video of Dhoni cutting his birthday cake in the early hours of July 7 went viral, and Salman Khan is seen standing alongside Dhoni and his wife Sakshi.

Later, Salman Khan took to social media to wish Dhoni on his 43rd birthday.

“Happy Birthay Kaptaan Sahab (Captain)!” tweeted Salman Khan, with a picture of the two from the birthday celebrations.

MS Dhoni’s birthday celebration with Sakshi and Salman Khan. pic.twitter.com/p2iqhR3600

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 7, 2024

Happy Birthday Kaptaan Sahab!@msdhoni pic.twitter.com/2bjCTNWRil

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 6, 2024

Dhoni then received a video call from Ruturaj Gaikwad, the man to whom he had passed over the captaincy of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. Mukesh Kumar and Tushar Deshpande – Gaikwad’s teammates on the Zimbabwe tour – were also seen in the video call. Deshpande also plays for CSK.

Ruturaj Gaikwad wished MS Dhoni on his birthday through a video call.

– The bond of Thala & Rutu…!!!! pic.twitter.com/bIDoNxgzj1

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 7, 2024

In the video, Dhoni is seen sporting his new shorter haircut, a picture of which was shared by famous hair stylist Aalim Hakim last month.

Dhoni is not the only high-profile former India captain born in July. Sourav Ganguly was born on July 8, whilst Sunil Gavaskar was born on July 10.

Gaikwad disappoints for India

Right after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, a youthful India team led by Shubman Gill lost the first T20I against Zimbabwe. Gaikwad, who batted at no. 3, contributed just seven runs in nine balls, as India failed to chase down a paltry target of 116.

India take on Zimbabwe in the second of five T20Is on the very next day, and will hope to avenge an embarrassing defeat to the 12th-ranked T20I nation in the ICC rankings.