New Delhi: India vice-captain Shubman Gill is among the prominent players who will be rested for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh starting October 7 as part of BCCI’s workload management policy. Gill, India’s No.3 in Test matches, is a vital cog in the team’s top-order alongside Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal and is expected to play all 10 Tests this season.
Apart from Gill, a few more important players will also be rested keeping the three-Test series against New Zealand in mind. India will start their upcoming international season with a two-Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai from September 19 followed by the second match in Kanpur starting September 27.
“Yes, Shubman will be rested for the Bangladesh T20I series. If you look at the fixture, the three T20Is will be played on October 7 (Gwalior), 10 (Delhi) and 13 (Hyderabad). Now first Test vs New Zealand starts October 16. “So with a turnaround of three days, it is important to give Gill a break,” a BCCI source told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
Gill has so far played 21 T20Is and has a hundred, three fifties to his credit besides a strike rate of nearly 140. He was recently appointed captain for the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Harare, which India won 4-1. In the current season, T20Is are least priority for the Indian team with the World Test Championship points with the five-match series against Australia being topmost on the agenda.
Also ODIs will be important as there is a Champions Trophy to be played in that format in February-March. It is understood that most of the Test team players are unlikely to be played against Bangladesh in T20Is. While the troika of Rohit, Virat and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the shortest format, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj also will be given rest as per workload management requirements. It will be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant plays T20Is, as his workload is paramount for selectors and he is needed in longer formats.
In case Pant is rested, there could be a possibility that Ishan Kishan is once again reconsidered after having spent the nine months of this year in international wilderness.
