“He was not taking his place for granted” - Harbhajan Singh backs selectors for dropping Shubman Gill

Former Indian spinner and analyst Harbhajan Singh has backed the Indian selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, for dropping Shubman Gill from the shortest format of the game ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.

For the unversed, Shubman Gill returned to India’s T20I setup before the Asia Cup 2025 campaign as a vice-captain. However, he failed to create an impact at the top of the order, scoring only 291 runs in 15 matches at a strike rate of 137.26, without scoring a half-century.

Speaking to the reporters during the launch event of the fourth season of the Legends 90 League, Bhajji asserted that there is a lot of competition for the opening spot and expressed confidence that the star batter would bounce back stronger.

"It’s not a signal to Gill. He was not taking his place for granted. The competition is so much and they’ve got too many players in the present scenario who can fill that slot and can do well for the team. This is not the end of the road for Gill; he’s a great, great player with beautiful technique, and he will make a brilliant comeback, and not to forget, he’s still the Test captain for India," Harbhajan said.

Furthermore, Harbhajan emphasised that the current team selection for the T20 World Cup focused on finding the right combinations. Additionally, he termed Gill as a class player and he knows how to make a great comeback.

"Over there, when I was listening to Ajit or even Surya, they were saying that they were looking at which combination fits where for this format. So, given those conditions and that combination, with that kind of respect, the team has been selected that way. So Gill is a class player, there is no doubt about it, and he’ll make a great comeback," he concluded.

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