Three reasons why Shubman Gill's inclusion deserves applause

#1 Current Form and Flexibility

Gill driving one through the covers against England Lions during a Tri-Series match in 2018

If Shubman Gill's current form is anything to go by, there is no reason for him to warm the bench or carry drinks while he is with the Indian squad in New Zealand. In his last seven innings, Shubman Gill has piled up no less than 618 runs. He narrowly missed out on his fourth first-class century in the first innings of Punjab's must-win encounter against Bengal to make it to the Ranji quarters less than five days ago.

Having scored around two thousand runs in competitive cricket in 2018, Shubman Gill must be having the right mix of caution and aggression. While being named the player of the tournament during the Under-19 World Cup was one thing, Shubman was equally impressive in his closest outing to International cricket so far - the Indian Premier League last year. Gill almost took Kolkata Knight Riders to the final even as his team's batting was collapsing while chasing a target of 175 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Another great thing with Shubman is his flexibility within the batting order. Over the past year, Shubman has shown that he has the ability to adapt while batting at any number in any format under any conditions. While he is essentially a top four batsman, he can even bat at five and six and perform the finisher's role.