Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes Shubman Gill is under pressure ahead of the fourth T20I against Australia. Gill could only manage 43 runs in three ODIs against Australia. The Indian opener has returned with scores of 37, 5, and 15 in the first three T20Is against the hosts and thus has failed to deliver consistently.

Pathan highlighted that players like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson are waiting in the wings for the opening slot. Samson was doing a fine job at the top of the order with Abhishek Sharma but was moved down to the middle order to accommodate Gill in the final XI after the latter was appointed as the team’s vice-captain.

“Once you give yourself a couple of overs to settle, you can always cover and catch up eventually. He has range, it is not like he does not have range. He must be thinking about the players sitting on the bench. A player like Sanju Samson is missing out. He has been involved in international cricket for 10 years, and he finally got a year where he scored 3 T20I hundreds, even after that he has to move out of his position to accommodate Shubman Gill. Now after getting demoted, he is getting dropped as well. A talented player like Jaiswal is also sitting out. It is not like Shubman Gill does not know this. So, there will be pressure,” Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

Pathan reckons Sanju Samson would be disappointed to move down to the middle order, despite doing almost everything that was asked of him by the team management at the top of the order.

“If I were Sanju Samson, I would be thinking that even after working so hard, after scoring so many runs, things should have been much better than this. Even he must be thinking this. Sanju Samson, my prayers, my good wishes are with you,” Irfan Pathan added.

Furthermore, Pathan believes Shivam Dube should be promoted to take the attack against the opposition’s spinners, which is his strength.

“If Shivam Dube is watching Harshit Rana being sent ahead of him, and if he is not getting to play against spin, which is his strength, then he might lag behind a bit. In my opinion, use him as a floater. Whenever spin is on, just send him. But his graph overall as a cricketer is going up,” Pathan said.

The fourth T20I between India and Australia will be played on Thursday at the Bill Pippen Oval, Gold Coast.