"A non-controversy that has been made a controversy" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill's return to India from 2024 T20 World Cup

Aakash Chopra has noted that Shubman Gill's pre-planned return from the 2024 T20 World Cup has wrongly been made controversial. The opener was among the four reserves who traveled with India's squad to the United States of America for the global event.

India topped Group A and qualified for the Super Eights to be played in the West Indies. While Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed will remain with the team as reserves, Gill and Avesh Khan are supposed to return to India.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that controversies have been created about Gill's return.

"A non-controversy that has been made a controversy. I got hold of a poster where it was first written - 'Shubman Gill unfollowed captain Rohit Sharma'. This is the first. Below that, it was written - 'Removed from the squad. Shubman Gill has been released and sent back to India by BCCI'," he said (1:20).

The former India opener noted that Gill himself has posted a story that dispels all rumors.

"After that - 'Disciplinary issues, he was not traveling with the team and was spending time away from the team'. I saw this poster on Instagram. After that, Shubman Gill posted a story - 'Sammy and I are learning the art of discipline from Rohit Sharma'. Sammy - I am sure he is talking about Samaira, who is Rohit's daughter," Chopra observed.

Virat Kohli opened with Rohit Sharma in India's group games of the ongoing T20 World Cup. The Men in Blue have Yashasvi Jaiswal as a reserve opener in the squad if they need to change the opening combination.

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"These days people have become experts in making a mountain out of a molehill" - Aakash Chopra on the rumors about Shubman Gill

Aakash Chopra reckons Shubman Gill could captain India in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe.

Aakash Chopra pointed out that India's batting coach Vikram Rathour has also dispelled all falsehoods surrounding Shubman Gill's return.

"Vikram Rathour also came out and said that it was their plan from earlier, that they had to trim down the squad once they reached the West Indies, and two of the travelers had to be sent back. So it was planned earlier and was just executed here. So where is it coming from? These days people have become experts in making a mountain out of a molehill," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the time zone difference and the uninteresting T20 World Cup have helped the rumor-mongers have a field day.

"When the team is far away from home, there is a time difference and you are unable to verify or authenticate the information many times. So you play it from whatever source it comes, and this has been that kind of a World Cup, which hasn't had stories. There are more stories of washouts than play. So keep putting oil on fire and keep making click-baits," Chopra stated.

Chopra recalled a similar incident with him during IPL 2009 in South Africa. He noted that he was believed to be 'the fake IPL player' blogging about the Kolkata Knight Riders camp since he had just started writing by then. He added that no one believed Anupam Mukherji, the actual blogger, even after he published a book, as it wasn't convenient.