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Shubman Gill has made up his mind that he won’t take a cooling-off break after India’s disappointing ODI series loss to New Zealand. The Indian captain will rather join Punjab for their Ranji Trophy contest against Saurashtra in Rajkot starting January 22. Gill was in a position to take the easy path of resting after the intense ODI series, but the news of him playing surprised many as he had also missed a couple of matches due to a neck injury he got during the South Africa series.

According to PTI, the player traveled from Indore to Rajkot via a direct route that took eight hours and involved no direct flights to join the Punjab team. The others are also expected to participate in the domestic season like Gill, who is not a part of India's T20 World Cup plans. In the second phase, Mohammed Siraj will be the captain of Hyderabad, while Ravindra Jadeja has already announced his return for Saurashtra.

Gill is needed by Punjab now more than ever. The team, which was once a champion, has only 11 points and is in 6th place in Group B after 5 matches. To be able to compete in the knock out stage, they must win their last two matches. Punjab already have a talented young player in the squad, and Gill at the top could be a big help to them.

Gill’s initial period as captain of India was quite challenging. In his very first ODI tour, India was defeated by Australia in their own backyard. Then, South Africa inflicted a terrible defeat on him in Tests at Home, and now there was a 1-2 loss to a second-string New Zealand. Theatrically speaking, he made two fifties during the series but did not handle the starts which was exasperating. Ever since 2025 Gill’s average in ODIs is 38.6 and he has one century in his last 14 innings.

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His first appearance with the red ball will be after the recovery from the neck injury he suffered during the Tests against South Africa. Rajkot will also see the return of Ravindra Jadeja who, after the ODI series, where he could manage only 43 runs and took no wickets, is coming back to Saurashtra to look for his own reset.