‘Tendulkar, Dravid were never dropped because they never gave a reason’: Sehwag’s hard-hitting message for Shubman Gill.

Shubman Gill wasn’t named in the T20 World Cup squad, and is also enduring a rough patch over the past month in IPL 2024. Gujarat Titans’ captain, Shubman Gill, has had an inconsistent outing in the ongoing IPL 2024. He made a strong start to the season, but in the past few games, the runs have dried up for the star opener; his last 50+ score came on April 10 during the match against Rajasthan Royals. Since then, Gill has failed to reach double figures thrice. The opener wasn’t selected for the T20 World Cup squad, too, but was named in the four-man reserves list alongside Rinku Singh, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed. In the side’s match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Saturday, Shubman Gill failed yet again, scoring only 2 off seven deliveries. Former India opener Virender Sehwag, however, backed Gill to return stronger and also had advice for the young opener as he faces a rough patch. Sehwag recalled his own playing days and referred to the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman as he talked in detail about Gill’s lack of run-scoring. “I think he’s lucky that his name is in the T20 World Cup reserves. KL Rahul and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not even in that. That’s a good point and he should be motivated by that. Next time, he should not let his place go once he gets a chance. He should focus on scoring runs at a good strike-rate so he doesn’t get replaced,” Sehwag told Cricbuzz. “In my days, we had Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman. It doesn’t matter how many runs the other guys scored, these guys didn’t go out because they never stopped scoring runs. How will you drop them if they keep scoring runs? They never gave a reason to get dropped. This is what Shubman Gill has to learn. Once he returns to Indian team and plays regularly post the World Cup, he shouldn’t let such an opportunity arise again. Improve your skills and score big, because big scores will eventually save you,” said Sehwag further. GT’s playoff chances turn bleaker With the latest loss to RCB, the Titans reel at the ninth spot in the IPL 2024 table and will require a herculean effort to make a comeback in the season. Additionally, they might also have to depend on favourable results from other sides to ensure a place in the playoffs. The side has four wins from 11 games but are behind RCB and Punjab Kings – both on 8 points – on net run rate.