Gambhir Should Abort Gill Experiment Right Now; Time to Back Samson?

Ind vs SA: Was coach Gautam Gambhir right in breaking up the successful pairing of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma at the top? From nowhere Shubman Gill was appointed the vice-captain of the T20I side and then made to open in the Asia Cup. India may have won the continental title, but Gill, the batter - failed. Yet, not many questioned Gill's form and no one even realised that in the process of getting him to open, Samson was sidelined and left in the lurch. Then came Australia, where Gill again underperformed - yet he was made to open against South Africa in the first T20I where all he could score was four off two balls and fell to an un-Gill-like shot. 

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Should Samson Start Opening, Again? 

With nine games still left to go before the marquee event in February, one feels there is ample time to go back to the tried and tested Samson-Abhishek pairing at the top. 

ALSO READ: 'Samson is Like my Elder Brother': Jitesh Dismisses Rivalry Notion

Numbers Don't Lie

In fact, since Gill-Abhishek started opening - India have breached the 200-run mark just once in 13 matches — including the game in Cuttack.

Whereas during the Samson-Abhishek era - the team hit six 200+ totals in 12 matches. This is a major stat that clearly shows that the explosiveness was way more in the past than it is now. 

Also, Gill does not fare well in T20Is at home. In eight T20I matches at home, Gill has amassed 229 runs at an average of 32.71 and a large part of those runs have come in Ahmedabad - where he scored 126* in a solitary innings itself. 

It is time coach Gautam Gambhir rethinks the strategy.