“A Futuristic Call”: R Ashwin Praises Shubman Gill’s Appointment as Vice-Captain

India has revealed its squad for the highly anticipated ODI series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The squad was announced on Saturday, January 18, at a press conference attended by chief selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Although the picks seemed mostly within expectation, there was much chatter, and argument in the fans' corner and even amongst cricket pundits for some decisions, like naming Shubman Gill as the vice-captain.

However, former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed the decision. Ashwin says that Gill is almost certain to play every match. Ashwin’s backing of Gill demonstrates his faith in Gill’s consistency and potential as a key player in India’s setup.

“I don't want to go into whether the decision is right or wrong but the point that was taken was right. He was the vice-captain in the last series and he has also been given the post sometimes in Test matches as well, although I could be wrong there,” shared Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, Ash ki Baat.

Most of the criticism for vice-captaincy for Shubman Gill came after he failed to make an impact in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. His ODI record, though, is very good, averaging 58.20 with six centuries, which indicates that he is good enough. He also averaged 43.30 in Tests last year, so he has all-around ability. Ravichandran Ashwin feels that it was a decision taken in a long-term vision. According to him, because Gill had previously been a vice-captain in both ODIs and Tests, it was a justified choice.

"This is a very futuristic call. They are looking at who could be the leader in the future. Now you said Axar Patel is vice-captain in T20s. (But) there can be a competition between Axar Patel and Jadeja for the same spot. Between Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, the latter is the incumbency keeper. Rishabh and KL could both play together as well. But the player who is 100 percent going to be there in the eleven has been made the vice-captain. The stability is good at the moment and if for some reason Shubman has to captain in the future, then he can lean on people like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah - there are many people,” Ashwin added.

India will kick off their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on 20th February at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Prior to that, Men in Blue would play England in an ODI series beginning 2nd of February in Nagpur which is going to be the last practice session for ICC tournament.