Former Indian cricketer and coach Saba Karim has spoken about the appointment of Shubman Gill as vice-captain of the Indian team in the white-ball formats. He believes that the young batsman has risen through his batting skills and that it will be a great learning experience for him.

In what was the biggest talking point in Indian cricket, young batsman Shubman Gill was named vice-captain of the team in the white-ball format. The right-hander was promoted after the BCCI recently announced the squad for the T20I and ODI series of the tour of Sri Lanka.

Shubman Gill was appointed captain of the team for the recently concluded tour of Zimbabwe. He showed great leadership qualities and under him, the team won the series by a margin of 4-1. He also led from the front and finished the series as the leading run-scorer.

This came as a surprise as his preference over KL Rahul in the vice-captaincy role in ODIs and over Hardik Pandya in T20Is raised quite a few eyebrows. He was also the captain of the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2024 and recently the selectors revealed that he had impressed them.

Speaking about Shubman Gill’s appointment as vice-captain, Saba Karim said that a briefing from VVS Laxman during the Zimbabwe tour would have helped him. He also feels that it will be a great learning experience for the batsman. Speaking to News 24, he explained:

“Shubman Gill has risen through the ranks on the back of his leadership skills. He captained the team as India came back from behind in the series against Zimbabwe. The team report prepared by VVS Laxman, the head coach, has influenced him a lot.

“I think this will be a great learning experience for Shubhman Gill. It seems the selectors are thinking that if he continues to perform like this, he can be promoted to captain.”

It will be difficult for him to come back – Saba Karim on Sanju Samson

Saba Karim also spoke about Sanju Samson’s exclusion from the ODIs, stating that it will be difficult for him to return to the team, especially with Rishabh Pant around. Elaborating on the topic, he said:

“I think it will be tough for Sanju Samson to be in the one-day tournament. We are seeing a lot of new faces. There are fewer slots, especially after Rishabh Pant’s return. If you look at his record, he (Pant) was excellent in one-day cricket.

“He was not that good in the T20. He was not part of the T20 squad, in the XI. But he was part of the one-day squad. That’s why they kept him for the one-day squad. I think it will be difficult for Sanju Samson in the one-day squad. It will be difficult for him to come back.”

In the last ODI he played, Sanju Samson scored a century by hitting a home run to give South Africa a victory in their own backyard and played an innings of 108 runs in 114 balls at Paarl. Despite his good performance, he has not been the team’s opening batsman.