New Delhi / Was waiting for announcement, disappointed at not being picked: Gill

Young cricketer Shubman Gill was left disappointed after he failed to seal a spot in any of the three India squads for the upcoming tour of Windies starting August 3. India are scheduled to play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against Windies but Gill couldn’t break into the team despite performing well for India A recently.

In the unofficial five-match series in West Indies, Gill scored 218 runs for India ‘A’, including three half-centuries. Despite his rich vein of form, he was overlooked for the senior side and the stylish right-hander has expressed his disappointment.

“I was waiting for the Indian senior team to be announced on Sunday and I expected to be selected for at least one of the squads,” Gill told Cricketnext. “It was disappointing not to get picked but I am not going to spend time thinking over it. I’ll keep scoring runs and performing to the best of my ability to impress the selectors.”

“It was a fantastic series for me and team as well since we won with a 4-1 margin. Personally, I would have liked to carry on and score at least a couple of hundreds in those fifties. But I will learn from this experience,” Gill added.

Overall, he has scored 1545 runs in 38 matches at an impressive average of 45.44 for India ‘A’. Gill’s breakout year included him picking up the ‘Emerging Player of the Tournament’ award in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Kolkata Knight Riders. Also, in the Ranji Trophy, he scored over 700 runs in five matches last season.

Gill’s show in Caribbean might not have helped him get selected for the senior side but he feels it was a great learning experience for him.

“The West Indies team that we faced here in the series was very good. The pitches — especially in the first few one-dayers — were very tough to bat on. It was tough challenging cricket and it’s good that we managed to come out on top,” Gill said.

“The biggest lesson that I have learned from my first West Indies tour is to try to curb my natural game depending on match condition. It’s important to block the good balls as well and remain at the crease for as long as possible. Person who is set at the crease needs to bat through the difficult period,” he added.

India’s squad for 2 Tests: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (VC), Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, C Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (WK) Wriddhiman Saha (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav

India’s squad for 3 ODIs: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini

India’s squad for 3 T20Is: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini