Beneath the buzzing halogen glare, Shubman Gill (84, 44b, 9×4, 3×6) and Sai Sudharsan (55, 36b, 6×4, 2×6) batted with dementor-like cold efficiency; the Rabada-Siraj combine turned the PowerPlay into a high-velocity ambush, and Rashid Khan’s stump-bound middle-over alchemy spelt doom as Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by 77 runs in their IPL 2026 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.

Chasing 230, RR kept losing wickets and struggled to stay in the hunt.

Mohammed Siraj’s 147 kph short ball climbed off the surface, hurrying Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (36) into a top-edged dismissal. Kagiso Rabada bullied Yashasvi Jaiswal (three) with a 152 kph bouncer, forcing a catch off a jammed-up pull.

Rashid returned to his hyper-kinetic hornet mode, offering neither loop nor parabolic flight. He made the ball fizz off the deck, seeking the stumps with a street-smart, predatory hunger. He castled Dhruv Jurel (24), Donovan Ferreira (4), and Shubham Dubey (15) and trapped Ravindra Jadeja (38) plumb in front.

Earlier, Gill was, as he often is, an upright study in perpendicular grace. Not for him the brutal hack or the bare-knuckle blow. His innings was midnight-child magic, a sorcery of timing. It was signature Gill: the late-meeting clarity, the glass-cut contact, the velvet-gloved punch, and the thread-through precision.

When Tushar Deshpande banged it in, Gill simply marched down and knifed him past backward point for a four. Jofra Archer went short outside off, and he rose on his toes to thread the ball between point and cover for a four. Two deliveries later, front foot planted and maker’s name flashing, he lifted Archer gloriously over mid-off for a six.

Archer was then driven straight back over his head, Brijesh Sharma creamed past mid-off, and even Jadeja was charged at and carved over extra cover for fours. The reverse over short third for a four against Yash Raj and an extra-cover six off Brijesh only completed the exhibition.

Sai Sudharsan was, on the other hand, an upright study in calm proportion. He was all quiet craft, a calibration of touch and tempo.

It was Sai Sudharsan distilled: the early-reading clarity, the under-the-eyes contact, the risk-shaving control, and the unhurried accumulation.

Shubman Gill, the captain, rotated his pace battery astutely and the quartet responded by tightening the noose around the Kolkata Knight Riders batters at the start and end of the innings. And Gill, the batter, was at his best, setting up Gujarat Titans’ five-wicket win against a beleaguered opponent in IPL 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

Gill not only notched up a hat-trick of fifties, but also ensured Titans completed a hat-trick of victories to jump to fourth spot.

Prolific batters Smriti Mandhana and Shubman Gill were named the Best International Cricketers (Men’s and Women’s) at the BCCI Naman Awards 2026 on Sunday (March 15, 2026), recognising their outstanding performances in the 2024–2025 season.

Gill won the prestigious Polly Umrigar Award, while Mandhana received the award for the fifth time.

For Gill, it was his second Cricketer of the Year award after first winning it in 2023.

Former stars Roger Binny, Rahul Dravid and Mithali Raj were honoured with the Col. C. K. Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the BCCI’s highest honour, recognising their outstanding service to Indian cricket.

Gill enjoyed a stellar 2025 and established himself as one of the team’s most dependable batters in the longer formats.

On the tour of England, skipper Gill led from the front in the five-Test series, finishing as the top run-getter with 754 runs in 10 innings at an average of 75.40, including four centuries and a top score of 269.

Gill also played a pivotal role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph last year, having entered the tournament as the No.1-ranked ODI batter in the world. He made an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh in India’s opening match, and finished the tournament with 188 runs.

Mandhana finished 2025 with 1,703 international runs, including 1,362 in ODIs, the most by any woman in a calendar year. In doing so, Mandhana became the first batter in women’s ODI history to score 1,000 runs in a single calendar year.

Mandhana also made handsome contributions to India’s maiden Women’s World Cup title triumph, aggregating 434 runs in nine matches to end as the tournament as India’s leading run-scorer and the second-highest overall.

Before the World Cup, the left-hander Mandhana smashed a 50-ball century against Australia in New Delhi to register the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian batter, surpassing Virat Kohli’s 52-ball effort.

India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill has decided against taking a break after the recent 50-over loss to New Zealand and will play the next Ranji Trophy game for Punjab against Saurashtra at Rajkot, starting on Thursday (January 22, 2026).

Gill, who featured in all three ODIs in the just-concluded series that India lost 1-2, has chosen to return to red-ball cricket immediately as he is not part of India’s T20 World Cup squad.

The 26-year-old is keen to help Punjab keep their slim knockout hopes alive in the premier domestic tournament.

“Shubman decided against taking any break post ODI series and it took him eight hours to reach Rajkot from Indore as there aren’t any direct flights, available,” a source close to the Punjab team told PTI.

Punjab are currently placed sixth in Group B with 11 points from five matches.

With three league games still to be played, the former champions would need outright victories in all their remaining fixtures to harbour any realistic chance of making it to the knockout stage. Gill’s presence at the top of the order is therefore seen as crucial to Punjab’s ambitions.

The match against Saurashtra, the reigning domestic heavyweights, will also mark Gill’s first red-ball appearance since he sustained a neck injury during the Test series against South Africa, which ruled him out of competitive cricket for a lengthy period.

His return is expected to significantly bolster Punjab’s batting line-up, which has been inconsistent so far this season.

Despite his growing responsibilities at the international level, the Indian captain has often stressed the importance of domestic cricket in maintaining form and match fitness.

“Batting orders are overrated, except the two openers.”

Head coach Gautam Gambhir reiterated his coaching philosophy recently, and it could soon come under scrutiny. As the national senior selection committee meets at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Saturday (December 20, 2025) to finalise India’s squad for the T20 World Cup 2026, it is the opening combination that is likely to generate the most debate.

The selection panel, chaired by former India pacer Ajit Agarkar, otherwise faces a relatively straightforward task while picking the squad for the marquee event, to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka in February and March. Since Gambhir took over as head coach in July 2024, the T20I side has emerged as India’s most settled and successful unit across formats.

The one area that has remained unsettled, however, is the opening slot. Ever since Shubman Gill was recalled after a year-long hiatus ahead of the Asia Cup in September, the debate has only intensified.

Gill has scored 291 runs in 15 innings since his return, striking at 137.26, with a 28-ball 47 against Pakistan in the Asia Cup being his highest score. While respectable, the numbers have not fully matched the demands of a modern T20 opener.

Gill’s return came at the expense of Sanju Samson, who had enjoyed a prolific 12-month run at the top of the order, scoring three hundreds.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, meanwhile, remains firmly in contention. Preferred over Gill as the reserve opener for the 2024 T20 World Cup, Jaiswal has strengthened his case by making significant contributions in the limited opportunities he has received in India’s Blues.

The selectors must now decide whether to persist with Gill — also India’s designated vice-captain — and opt for Jaiswal as the reserve opener, or revisit Samson’s role as a wicketkeeper-opener. Ishan Kishan has further complicated matters with a timely resurgence, playing a key role in Jharkhand’s triumphant Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign.

Beyond the opening slot, the reserve wicketkeeper’s position is also up for discussion. While Jitesh Sharma appears certain to be the first-choice wicketkeeper, the battle between Samson and Ishan for the backup role remains open.

Elsewhere, the squad looks largely settled. The only other notable question is whether Rinku Singh, who missed out on the 2024 T20 World Cup squad, will again be overlooked in favour of Washington Sundar.

With the Gambhir-Agarkar combine showing a clear preference for all-rounders over specialists, Washington appears to have the edge.

Agarkar is scheduled to address the media after the selection committee meeting on Saturday (December 20) afternoon.

India would hope that the challenging home assignment against South Africa, which has exposed a few chinks in the armour and thrown up difficult questions on selection, ends on a positive note when the two sides clash in the fifth and final T20 International in Ahmedabad on Friday (December 19, 2025) .

After being blanked 0-2 in the Tests, India bounced back to win the ODI series and now have an unassailable lead 2-1 in the T20Is after the fourth game was abandoned due to poor weather conditions in Lucknow on Wednesday (December 17, 2025).

That India cannot lose the series should be comforting to embattled head coach Gautam Gambhir given that the other two leaders in the camp — skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his deputy Shubman Gill — are battling challenges of their own with less than two months to go for the T20 World Cup.

For someone who was ranked world No. 1 not so long ago, Suryakumar’s form has sharply nosedived in the only format he is assured a place in the XI for India.

Having gone through 18 innings in 20 matches this year without a single half-century while averaging a poor 14.20 for his 213 runs, every failure for Suryakumar is adding to the concerns of the Indian camp.

Adding to it is the Gill conundrum

Gill’s return as vice-captain in the T20I format might have been perceived as one which put Suryakumar on notice a few months ago, but the former’s ordinary run with the bat since his comeback and the latest injury setback only hampers the team’s cause.

A toe injury suffered before the fourth T20I is set to keep Gill out of the final T20I here as India would want to take a cautious route, more so when there is a ready replacement for the top order slot in Sanju Samson.

Earlier, Gill had missed most of the two-Test affair following a injury to his neck which he suffered in the series-opener in Kolkata, something that also highlighted his busy schedule and growing list of responsibilities in Indian cricket across formats.

Samson was never the right fit in the lower order as the lowest he has batted apart from the top slot is at No.5, where the right-handed batter has scored a mere 138 runs in eight matches at an average of 23.

But each of his three T20I centuries and one half-century have come at the top slot in 14 innings, and in case of Gill’s unavailability for the final game, the Kerala wicketkeeper-batter would be keen to make it count.

Aside from this, India have a settled unit with both the all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, featuring in all three games so far. In the pace attack, Arshdeep Singh is coming into his elements and is also beginning to forge a partnership with Harshit Rana with the ball.

Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the third T20I due to personal reasons, joined the team’s camp before the fourth match.

A batting-friendly wicket here will pose a challenge to India’s best bowler in the T20I series, Varun Chakravarthy, who has taken 6 wickets so far.

For South Africa, who have blown hot and cold particularly with the bat in the T20I series, Friday’s (December 19, 2025) contest will be an opportunity to end with the satisfaction of drawing a series against India.

The Proteas could mull over bringing Aiden Markram back in the top order in place of Reeza Hendricks, who hasn’t found his rhythm on this tour.

But at the same time, the visitors would also want the young and dangerous Dewald Brevis to find his form after having ordinary outings in each of the three completed matches in the series.

South Africa have also missed aggressive knocks from Marco Jansen, which made the ODI series such a tightly-contested affair but to their credit, Lungi Ngidi and Ottneil Baartman have done a fair job with the ball.

In the 2012-13 series against England, when skipper M.S. Dhoni asked for a turning track at Eden Gardens, the curator Prabhir Mukherjee told him this was “immoral.” Coach Gautam Gambhir’s instructions, however, were taken on board by Mukherjee’s successor, but India lost again, making it four in six at home.

Visiting spinners claiming more wickets than Indians on home tracks is not a recent phenomenon. India lost to Australia in 1969-70 despite fielding the great spinners Erapalli Prasanna (26 wickets), Bishan Bedi (21), and S. Venkatraghavan and better batters against spin in the line-up. Ashley Mallett (28) and John Glesson (10) were the successful spinners while medium pacers Graham McKenzie and Alan Connolly had 38 wickets between them.

“Better batters against spin” turned out to be an exaggeration then, as it appears to be now. The Indian spinners kept telling their batters, as Bedi often reminded us, “Please give us at least 250 runs to bowl at.”

Challenging the home team

In the last century, home tracks often challenged the home team. Richie Benaud (23 wickets to Vinoo Mankad’s 11 and Subhash Gupte’s 12) in 1956 (Australia won 2-0), Derek Underwood (29 to Bedi’s 25) in 1975-76 as England won 3-1 are other examples. Just over a decade ago, England won a series in India after 28 years thanks to Graeme Swann (20 wickets) and Monty Panesar (17). By themselves these statistics may not tell the whole story, but together they point to a pattern, perhaps suggesting the adage about spin in India might not necessarily be true.

It is also useful to remember that just as India’s game against pace and swing while playing abroad has improved well enough to win them series in Australia and England, the preparation against spin by visiting teams has seen a sea-change too.

Gambhir might have, by his own admission, got the wicket he wanted in Kolkata, but you have to be careful what you wish for. If two spinners cannot do the job, there is little point in picking four, at least one of whom is bound to be under-bowled, and only one can be classed a genuine Test all-rounder.

So where did India lose the Test? When they were dismissed for 189 in the first innings? When they collapsed in the second? On the third morning, India took their foot off the pedal, allowing South Africa to score 60 runs. Some of their intensity was gone. India seemed to feel it was only a matter of time, as if their win was pre-ordained and South Africa’s batters would merely have to play out the roles allotted to them.

Missing a trick

This is a dangerous attitude in Test cricket. Things don’t just happen, you have to go out and make them happen. Rishabh Pant, normally a proactive captain might have delayed bringing on Jasprit Bumrah. You start the day’s play with your best bowler; especially against the bottom half of the batting. That is woven into the fabric of strategy.

Gambhir may have been right when he said that the 124 to win was gettable. Clearly he didn’t explain how and why well enough to his batters. South Africa were superb, India choked.

Temba Bavuma didn’t get to lead his team to ten wins in 11 matches by hanging around and allowing things to happen. He made things happen. His captaincy is a lesson for both Pant and Gill, the latter forced to watch from his hospital bed (if at all). Quietly, professionally, Bavuma went about his business. He should have been Player-of-the-Match as much for his captaincy as for his batting. In Marco Jansen and off-spinner Simon Harmer he had men for the job. Their self-belief was evident.

Indian batters tend to look down upon off spin, viewing it as fodder in any format. Perhaps that’s why Washington Sundar was given just one over on a helpful track.

India were once seen as tigers at home, but lambs abroad. The turnaround has been startling. If Gambhir is beginning to feel insecure, he has time enough to look afresh at the team’s attitude. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings is a cliché in sport for a good reason.

Shubman Gill is “ridiculously talented” and he should be able to make adjustments while navigating his way through the different formats and score big runs for India, feels former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson.

Gill, India’s Test and ODI captain, has not scored big in the ongoing white-ball series against Australia. He made 10, 9 and 24 in the three one-dayers, 37 not out, 5 and 15 in the three T20 Internationals so far.

He came to Australia after scoring a hundred and a fifty in three innings in two Tests at home against the West Indies.

The fourth T20I of the five-match series will be played here on Thursday.

“It does take time [to make adjustments], and it’s through trial and error that you really realise exactly what you need to do to make those adjustments, and playing in different conditions as well,” Watson said.

“But Shubman is a ridiculously talented batter. He’s got an amazing technique. It’s not going to take him long at all to be able to really navigate his way through the different formats because when someone is as highly skilled as he is, it’s not going to take him too long.”

Watson conceded that switching formats is not easy but a player gets adapted with more matches under his belt.

“It definitely is a challenge, and the more you do it, the better you get at really understanding the little adjustments that you have to make to your technique, to your game plan, your mindset around each format to be able to then get into the best version of you every time you have to make that adjustment,” said the 44-year-old who played 59 Tests, 190 ODIs and 58 T20Is for Australia between 2002 to 2016.

Watson was all praise for India’s explosive opening batter Abhishek Sharma, who has taken T20 cricket by storm.

“He is an absolute treat to watch. He’s incredibly good, isn’t he? He is so fearless, but then he’s got the skill to be able to adapt to whatever’s required as well,” Watson said.

“It’s been special to see his evolution over the last two or three years, from when he first came in, got opportunities for Sunrisers Hyderabad. And then seeing him just continue to explode like he has. He’s got all the different gears, he’s got all the different shots against different bowlers in different conditions as well.”

The 25-year-old Abhishek played a major role in India’s Asia Cup triumph and has scored 19, 68 and 25 in the three T20I matches so far against Australia.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t made it easy for the selectors. Had they failed in Australia, Ajit Agarkar and company would have found it easier to say: sorry folks, it’s time to go. Had only one of them succeeded, the pressure on the other to quit would have been greater. Alternatively, it might have extended his career. After all, the selectors might take a chance with one of them for World Cup 2027, but both?

While the country celebrated the Sydney ODI win and the manner in which the veterans — Rohit is 38, Kohli turns 37 in a few days — recaptured the past, the selectors were given a conundrum. It is not something they have to solve immediately, but they will have to handle it with no loss of dignity either to themselves or the two stalwarts.

Very few Indian players have been allowed the luxury of choosing their time and place of departure. Sachin Tendulkar was given a send-off others can only dream of, with the whole country coming to a standstill, and with carefully chosen visitors — the West Indies — as sacrificial lambs.

When announcing his retirement from One-Day Internationals earlier, Tendulkar had said, “I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup-winning Indian team.”

Missing out

That was a dream denied Rohit Sharma when, at 24, he was not picked for the 2011 World Cup at home. The selectors preferred an extra bowler, Piyush Chawla. Kohli was in the triumphant team and helped carry Tendulkar around the stadium after the win. In 2023, again at home, Rohit was now captain and India looked likely winners till they lost to Australia in the final. So there’s a bit of unfinished business in his case.

The World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia commences in October, which means a five-month break after the IPL for the two players. Like they did with Test cricket and Tendulkar, India’s cricket board might decide to have a couple of unscheduled ODI series just to ensure the stalwarts keep in touch. That is if they are ruled by such things as public sentiment.

A better way might be to tell Rohit and Kohli privately that they will be a) picked, regardless of what happens or b) not picked, regardless of what happens. Selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar’s term ends in June next year. But he has been given one extension, and could be given another. The key man here is likely to be coach Gautam Gambhir. And possibly skipper Shubman Gill too. Rohit missed out on 2011 because of the then captain M.S. Dhoni’s insistence on choosing the leg spinner; ironically, another captain could see him play in 2027.

The World Cup is a good two years away, and all speculation at this stage might be futile. Such things as form, fitness, motivation, team balance closer to the event will decide. But the fact that the bulk of the tournament is being played in South Africa suggests that experience could be vital.

The Sydney performances might be classified under ‘swallows and summers’. A single one of the former does not prove the existence of the latter. India knew their target; Rohit could return to his earlier manner of getting comfortable before launching an attack and Kohli felt at home chasing. He averages 65 in chases with 28 centuries. Where he has remained unbeaten, India have won 51 of 52 chases.

Need for match practice

While both stalwarts looked out of sorts in the first ODI in Australia, and Rohit did at the start of the second before getting a 70-plus (while Kohli looked strangely under-confident), it might have had to do with lack of acclimatisation. This applies to the team in general. Modern teams do not believe in getting used to conditions while playing abroad. Here was indication that the Indian team ought to give themselves sufficient match practice in South Africa ahead of the World Cup.

Whatever happens between now and then, the Rohit-Kohli question will continue to loom. Two of the greatest players in the format will have to keep proving themselves afresh. Painful? Necessary? Match results (there are 21 ODI till the end of next year) then become less important than the subtext of the contests.