‘Not Much Time To Experiment’: Gill Wants India’s World Cup XI To Start Playing Together

India captain Shubman Gill believes there is little time left for experimentation and wants the team’s likely 2027 World Cup combination to start playing together from the next ODI series.

India finished the three-match series against the West Indies with a 2-1 win after losing the final ODI by five wickets on Saturday. However, the series exposed concerns in the bowling and fielding departments, with several first-choice players unavailable because of injuries, scheduling clashes and the Asian Games.

Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel were away at the Asian Games, while Prasidh Krishna suffered an injury during the second ODI.

“I honestly think there is not that much time to experiment,” Gill said after the final match. “The combination that we would like to play in the World Cup, we want to start playing with that combination.”

Gill admitted it had been frustrating not being able to field his preferred bowling attack but said the situation also gave younger players an opportunity to prove themselves.

India struggled particularly in the powerplay and death overs, failing to make enough early breakthroughs across the series. In the final ODI, West Indies captain Shai Hope smashed an unbeaten 162 as the visitors successfully chased 352.

Gill also criticised India’s fielding, revealing that the team dropped around seven catches during the series. Three or four chances went down in the final game alone, while India also conceded several avoidable runs in the field.

Debutants Auqib Nabi and Anshul Kamboj struggled to make a major impact, but Gill urged them to learn from the experience.

On Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the final ODI, Gill said he was not dropped and indicated that future selection would be based on what each player can offer the team under World Cup conditions.

For Gill, the next phase is about turning opportunities into a settled combination and fixing India’s weaknesses before the World Cup arrives.