Former India fielding coach R Sridhar has shared his views on the future of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in international cricket. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from T20Is, the young openers replaced them at the top of the order during the recently concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka.

Shubman Gill also opens the innings alongside Rohit Sharma in the ODIs and is currently an indispensable part of the ODI setup. On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the preferred opener in the Test format. With both youngsters performing well in international cricket so far, many believe that they have the potential to lead India’s attack with the bat in the coming years.

And while only time will reveal how things will pan out going forward, R Sridhar believes that both players have a bright future ahead of them. He particularly praised Gill, whom he termed as a player who can play in all formats, and backed him to replace Rohit Sharma as captain in the coming years. Sridhar said that Shubman Gill is likely to lead the team in all three formats after the 2027 World Cup.

“On the current form and going back to the potential they showed in the India-England Test series and even in the ODI games, I think these two are cementing their position in two formats i.e. T20Is and Tests.

“For me, Shubman Gill is a player who suits all formats and I think he would be captain Rohit Sharma’s apprentice in Test matches and ODIs. I am sure India will see him as the captain after the 2027 World Cup across all formats.”

Yashasvi Jaiswal has a lot of competition, Shubman Gill is India’s leading format player: R Sridhar

While R Sridhar backed Shubman Gill to become the face of Indian cricket in the coming years, he issued a warning to Yashasvi Jaiswal. The former India coach said Jaiswal has a lot of competition and needs to be on his toes to retain his place in the team.

Sridhar praised the Mumbai youngster for his performance in the Test series against England and in the IPL but also mentioned that players like Sai Sudharsan and Abhishek Sharma are nipping at his heels. He refused to back Jaiswal as a long-term opener for India and concluded by calling Gill India’s best player across all formats.

“I think Yashasvi Jaiswal has a lot of competition. He has Sai Sudharsan nipping at his heels. He has Abhishek Sharma nipping at his heels. But Yashasvi has done well in Test matches, against England, we saw him score a hundred and then he followed it up with a double hundred. He has the appetite for big innings,” Sridhar said.

“He can play T20 cricket as he has shown in the IPL and the recent Zimbabwe series. But there are few left-handed openers around him. As I said, Abhishek and Sai Sudharsan are two other good quality opening batsmen. But that depends on the form. But I think Shubman Gill is the leading player in the format for India,” he added.