“He’s not completely accustomed…” - AB de Villiers reveals the reason behind Shubman Gill’s constant failures in T20Is

Former South African middle-order batter AB de Villiers has backed the Indian T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill to come out good in the remaining three T20Is of the five-match T20I series against Australia Down Under. 

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Interestingly, Gill could score only five runs off 10 balls before getting out to Josh Hazlewood in the second T20I against Australia in Melbourne. Also, Gill managed to score only 169 runs in nine innings at an average of 24.14 since his return to the format at the Asia Cup 2025 campaign.

“There are good wickets in Australia. Maybe he’s not completely accustomed to the kind of bounce. There must be something, or he’s just human… We expect Shubman to score runs every single day,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

Furthermore, the former South African dashing batter has reckoned that Gill is not having any technical issues, but it’s more of a mental thing to work on and come out all guns blazing in the remaining games of the T20I series.

“So, maybe Shubman Gill is going through a patch like that, and he’ll work it out, guys. He’s a class player, class leader, and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will be back. I think it’s more of a mental thing than technical. If it’s technical, he’ll get to the nets and sort it out. I don’t see any reflex. Yes, the performance is not there in the recent and short-term past, but there is plenty of cricket ahead. Plenty to look forward to, and it’s just up to him to sort of freshen up,” he added.

While Gill was elevated as the vice-captain of the Indian T20I team ahead of the Asia Cup 2025 campaign, Sanju Samson has been demoted to the middle-order in the shortest format of the game to accommodate Gill at the opening slot.

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