'Great opportunity for Gill to cement his T20I spot'

'He is coming back from a niggle. He will get a lot of opportunities across five matches on good pitches.'

Shubman Gill has made a comeback to the Indian T20 side for the upcoming five-match series against South Africa as vice-captain after recovering from a neck injury that kept him out of the preceding ODI series.

Gill has been cleared by the Sports Science team of the BCCI's Centre of Excellence to play the opening T20I against South Africa in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9, after successfully completing his rehabilitation from a neck injury sustained during the Kolkata Test.

Skipper Suryakumar Yadav has made it clear that the  26-year-old right-hander will open alongside Abhishek Sharma, the No. 1 T20 batter in the world, pushing Sanju Samson out of the top spot once again. 

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan believes that the South Africa series will be a great opportunity for Gill to cement his place at the top of the order in India's T20  side. 

"Shubman Gill should cement his place at the top of the order in T20Is. We believe in all-format players. We have seen how well he plays in the IPL. Now, he has a chance to cement his place in India's T20 side. There is a little pressure, but he is a good player. I hope he performs well in this five-match  series against South Africa," Pathan said on JioStar.

"He is coming back from a niggle. He will get a lot of opportunities across five matches on good pitches. The pitches will have pace and bounce, like in Dharamshala, and he will love batting on them." 

Pathan also noted that as India will be keen to defend the T20 World Cup title at home next year, they need a batter with strong finishing skills to partner Hardik Pandya. He tipped Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, and Rinku Singh as potential candidates to complement Pandya in the lower-middle order.

"I would like to see who plays the role of a finisher with Hardik Pandya, and how they do it. If we have to defend the World Cup, it is crucial that our lower-middle order batters stay in form."

"Along with Hardik, the other batters become very important. Axar Patel can do that, Jitesh Sharma is there, and Rinku Singh can also come in. But we have to see who will complement Hardik down the order," Pathan added.

After the series opener in Cuttack, the remaining four matches in the T20I series against South Africa are scheduled to be held in New Chandigarh (December 11), Dharamsala (December 14), Lucknow (December 17), and Ahmedabad (December 19).