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India should not pick Shubman Gill in fifth T20I vs Australia, Sanju Samson should open with Abhishek Sharma
Shubman Gill should be rested for the final T20I against Australia due to his extensive workload since May 2025.
India should not pick Shubman Gill in the fifth and final T20I against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane. Before you roll your eyes, hear us out. Gill has been playing non-stop cricket since May 2025. He is the only active cricketer who has featured in every match that India have played since the England Test series and he has been captain in 10 of those. From England through the Asia Cup in the UAE and the West Indies Test series at home, he has accumulated 40 competitive days of cricket. With eight white-ball matches on the Australia tour, that figure will hit 48 match-days in 140 calendar days (if he features in the last T20I), one competitive day every 2.9 days.
If Gill plays on Saturday, he will have only three days of rest (assuming India fly back on Sunday) before he starts preparing for the two-match home Test series against South Africa starting on November 14. The team will assemble in Kolkata on November 12 and hold two full-fledged practice sessions at the Eden Gardens before the action begins next Friday. Gill will then lead the side in the ODI series. If he is not given a break from the T20I in Australia, there is hardly any chance to give him another before the home series against South Africa and New Zealand.
And it's not like India will miss out on a lot if Gill doesn't feature in the last T20I, as they have Sanju Samson waiting in the wings. Yes, he did not find a lot of success in the middle-order but before Gill returned to the T20I side in the Asia Cup, Samson blasted three centuries while opening the batting.
Shubman Gill needs workload management
The notion that only fast bowlers require workload management overlooks fundamental principles of sports science. Studies on elite cricketers show that countermovement-jump performance — a key neuromuscular indicator — remains suppressed for 24 hours after a match and returns to normal only after 48 hours.
Similarly, muscle glycogen restoration takes 24–48 hours even under ideal nutritional conditions. Crossing four time zones between India and Australia further disrupts circadian rhythms, delaying body-clock alignment by roughly two days. In effect, Shubman Gill needs around two recovery days for every match day — a luxury he hasn’t had since June.
Following the five-day Delhi Test, Gill is scheduled to fly to Perth and then continue through Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Although workload research traditionally centers on fast bowlers, batting and fielding also impose immense physical and mental strain.
Modern cricket boards use GPS vests and wearable technology to track player thresholds and identify fatigue before injuries occur. Yet Gill, who is leading India in ODIs against Australia and is also named in the T20I squad, is slated to play all eight matches — adding further to his workload unless he is rotated or rested.
Recovery after intense competition is not simply about resilience; it involves restoring homeostasis, replenishing energy stores, and repairing tissue — processes that demand adequate time. By November, Gill will have spent nearly half the year on the field, captaining India across formats. If the team wants him to sustain his performance levels, the answer lies in trusting the science — giving him the rest he needs before fatigue turns into injury.
