"He looked mentally tired" - Former India cricketer's blunt assessment of Shubman Gill's flop show in AUS vs IND 2025 ODI series

Former cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels Team India skipper Shubman Gill looked mentally tired during the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Australia. He stated that the pressure of captaining the national team in two formats may have taken a toll on the 26-year-old's mind.

Gill's ODI captaincy stint began with a 1-2 series defeat to Australia. He performed underwhelmingly with the bat, finishing with 43 runs across three innings at an average of 14.33.

Assessing Gill's performances in the series, Kaif remarked in his latest YouTube video:

At 18:18 "He has played a lot of matches lately. He has to open the batting and also captain the team in multiple formats. Then, there is the IPL captaincy as well. With the auction coming up, there will be calls with the Gujarat Titans for planning. There is a lot on his plate at once, and it seemed like it had affected his batting a bit. He looked mentally tired."

Meanwhile, India and Australia will now face each other in a five-match T20I series, beginning October 29 in Canberra. Gill is part of the Men in Blue squad for the 20-over matches as well.

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"He has been making mistakes" - Mohammad Kaif unimpressed by KL Rahul's wicketkeeping in AUS vs IND 2025 ODI series

Mohammad Kaif also spoke about KL Rahul's wicketkeeping performances in the series. He pointed out that the stumper wasn't up to the mark with his glove work.

Kaif remarked that Rahul's limited time behind the stumps in a year has affected his reflexes. He said:

At 30:38, "He has been making mistakes. Actually, he does not keep wickets throughout the year. There is a different wicketkeeper in Tests, and he is not in the T20I team. He doesn't keep wickets in those two formats, so you will be out of touch. So, it's about the rhythm. Your reflexes are bound to slow down if you are not keeping wickets throughout the year."

Kaif suggested that India have a few options like Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson that they can consider for the wicketkeeper's role instead of persisting with a part-time option. He added:

At 31:32, "He kept wickets when there was a need to fit him in the playing XI, and Rishabh Pant was injured. Now we have Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant is fit, and Sanju Samson is there too. So, we must think about this as one mistake in a big tournament can cost you the match."

Rahul did not get a chance to bat in the third ODI as the visitors chased the 237-run target with nine wickets in hand. He registered scores of 38 and 11 in the earlier matches.