Former Indian national cricket team opener Aakash Chopra has made a big claim on Test, ODI captain and T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill for failing in the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan national cricket team.
Aakash Chopra bluntly said that Shubman Gill is expected to perform well in big matches and his failure in the India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2025 final is a big problem.
Shubman Gill was being prepared for a 150-run match – Aakash Chopra
Gill is currently among the very few cricketers in the Indian team across all formats, and his workload has been heavy since the England tour at the beginning of the year.
Over the past few years, Gill mainly focused on Test and ODI cricket, but the selection committee recalled him to the T20I squad for Asia Cup 2025 and handed him the vice-captaincy.
However, he is yet to cement his place in the T20I team and has faced consistent failures, with the biggest failure coming against arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of the Asia Cup 2025.
Chasing 147, India were hoping that Gill would finally fire with the bat, but he managed just 12 runs with the help of a four in 10 balls before being dismissed by Faheem Ashraf.
Aakash Chopra claimed that thanks to Tilak Verma, India managed to win that match, but Shubman Gill’s failure in an important low-scoring match is a big problem.
Aakash Chopra said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel, “Shubman Gill was being groomed for a 150-run match like the 2025 Asia Cup final. Shubman not scoring runs in that match is a problem. I am not bothered about what is happening because he has been hired for that one job. Everyone else is a strokemaker; they don’t have a second gear, but you have.”
He said, “If you look at the multi-nation tournaments, the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Asia Cup, you will not find scores above 200. You talk about 250-300 in bilateral matches, but a team rarely does that in an ICC competition because everyone plays with fear.”
I think there is an issue of clarity in Sarfaraz’s case – Aakash Chopra
In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra talked about the situation of Sarfaraz Khan and said that he was not even given a chance to fail because the selectors felt that he could not perform well abroad.
“I think there is a clarity issue in Sarfaraz’s case. I think it is a matter of perception and understanding. I am trying to think, he may have the perception that he will not be able to perform well in swing conditions and will not be able to play fast bowling well either.
He said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel, “Maybe he is not our man in the SENA countries. That’s why he did not get the chance. But to make that impression also I have to let him fail. He is not even being allowed to fail. And now there is no place in the team either.”
Jaiswal is also a key player of the Indian team – Aakash Chopra
Every time Shubman Gill fails in T20I cricket, fans urge BCCI to recall Yashasvi Jaiswal into the team. Notably, the left-handed batsman has better numbers than Gill in the shorter format, but he has been left out of the setup. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra said that Yashasvi Jaiswal will eventually be a part of India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
“Jaiswal is also a key player in the Indian team. He will also be in the ODI and T20I teams in the near future.”
“You can cover the sunlight with clouds for a while, but you can’t hide it. At this point of time, it’s unfair to Jaiswal, I agree. (Not being in the white-ball teams) I think he will be in the T20 World Cup squad. I don’t think the team we are playing now is the final team,” he said.
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