“Not On Gill’s Level Yet” – Kris Srikkanth On Team India Star

Former Indian skipper Kris Srikkanth shared his thoughts on left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh’s repeated omission from the playing XI, most recently in the first T20I against Australia in Canberra. According to Srikkanth, despite having impressive T20I stats, Arshdeep is yet to reach the level of Shubman Gill, which makes it difficult for him to secure a spot in the side under any circumstance.

He further highlighted how Gill has earned the management’s trust over the past year, being given leadership roles in both Tests and T20Is even during phases of poor form. The opener eventually justified that faith with a stellar Test series in England, where he piled up 754 runs at an average of over 75, including four centuries.

Speaking on his YouTube channel about Arshdeep’s continued absence from India’s T20I lineup following the series opener, Srikkanth expressed his opinion on the selection decisions.

“Unfortunately for Arshdeep Singh, he hasn’t reached Shubman Gill’s level yet in the team combination. That’s where a person like Shubman Gill scores over an Arshdeep Singh. Shubman Gill was dropped even in the Test series in Australia. But then he was made the captain and he did brilliantly in England.”

Srikkanth further continued:

“Even T20Is, he didn’t score for a long time. Yet, he played superbly today. So the thought process with a guy like Shubman Gill probably was to give him as many chances and hope one day he’ll be a big leader and win matches.”

“It Usually Happens To Bowlers” – Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth noted that bowlers often get less leniency than batters in selection. He cited examples like Jadeja, Chakaravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav, who were sidelined despite strong performances.

“It mainly happens to bowlers. There is always an extra leeway given to batters because it’s a batsmen-dominated game, especially the white-ball formats. So preferences always go to batters, nothing can be done about it,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

He further concluded:

“Take Kuldeep himself, he bowled brilliantly in the Champions Trophy , but did not play in England. Likewise, even ODIs, he didn’t play the first two games. Same way, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravindra Jadeja won India the Champions Trophy but were left out of the ODI squad itself.”