Kolkata, Sept. 2 -- This is how Shubman Gill's extraordinary T20I career curve for India looks so far. He made his debut against Sri Lanka in the first week of 2023 and within a month had an unbeaten hundred against New Zealand at a strike rate of 200. It preceded a string of single-digit scores bookending a 47-ball 77 against West Indies in an audacious chase of 178 that was clinched with three overs to spare. By July 2024, he was named vice-captain even though he only made it to the reserves for the T20 World Cup in June. England came calling earlier this year but Axar Patel was appointed vice-captain. And now, not exactly out of nowhere, Gill is again the vice-captain. Runs and only runs have made this possible. Third highest scorer for India in the Champions Trophy, followed by his record-breaking run in the five-Test series in England have made Gill's viability as an all-format batter tenable. But pivotal has to be this IPL season for Gill, churning 650 runs for Gujarat Titans at a strike rate of 155.87 as captain and as opener. First things first, this probably settles the debate as to where Gill will bat in the Asia Cup. His conventional, semi-aggressive style is the perfect foil to Abhishek Sharma's fire and brimstone mode of batting, not to forget it gives India a left-right combination at the top. Straightaway, that's a big tick in coach Gautam Gambhir's books. But this change is bound to unsettle a few slots for India, something that they need to fix in the Asia Cup. If Gill opens the batting with Abhishek, Samson's place in the eleven might be under the scanner. Though he has endured a rather mediocre IPL-285 runs at a strike rate of 140-Samson has done nothing wrong per se as a T20 opener. His story is that of unfulfilled potential, with a T20 career that has a higher share of lows than highs, along with a few selection calls that probably went against Samson. The good thing is that he isn't throwing in the towel. Proof of that came in the Kerala Cricket League where he clobbered 121 off 51 balls earlier this week, hitting 21 sixes in just three matches. There is no doubt India would love to unleash this Samson at the top in the upcoming Asia Cup. But with Gill, Sharma is clearly a better bet because of the left-right thing and his riskier aptitude for quick runs. But Samson was also keeping wickets for India, so unless India accommodate him at No 5 or 6, there is very little chance of Samson getting into that eleven. The top-four is pretty inflexible now for India, with Tilak Varma (left-hand bat) and Suryakumar Yadav coming in at No 3 and 4 respectively, meaning India have to make changes in the lower middle-order. Hardik Pandya is in charge of that front, most recently with Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh in the T20I series against England earlier this year. And since Dube gives India a bowling option, Rinku may be asked to make way for a wicketkeeper. Jitesh Sharma comes into the picture here, not because Samson can't or won't want to bat so low, but because Jitesh's IPL strike rates at No 6 and 7 are 168.75 and 178.95 respectively. And in his brief, nine-match T20I career, Jitesh strikes at 152.38 at No 6, close to Rinku's 158.77. Just for perspective, only twice in his T20I career has Samson batted at No 6 or lower. In the IPL, that number increases to 8 out of 172 innings. Jitesh's selection thus now makes more sense from the dual perspective of keeping the batting intensity high as well as keeping wickets. The overarching idea is to preserve India's batting depth at any cost. Assuming Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav will be fielded as specialist wicket-taking bowlers, the selectors will be tempted to add at least three allround options to give India enough bowling variety. Pandya, Dube and Axar Patel (ideally at No 8) come into the picture here. Which essentially results in a toss-up between Samson and Jitesh since Rinku has rarely stood behind the stumps. These are permutations and combinations India must be mulling only to accommodate Gill at the top. Because Gill batting anywhere else in T20 doesn't make sense. He might take a few more balls to get into rhythm, but when he does, Gill goes all the way in double quick time. Look at Gujarat Titan's scoring pattern in this IPL, where nearly two-thirds of their total runs came from the top-three. Eight out of Titans' top 10 highest partnerships over 100 runs have featured Gill, all opening the batting, two of them resulting in double century stands. In a format as unpredictable as T20, Gill provides a modicum of stability with his sure-footed batting. To integrate that into their armoury without compromising their edge is India's next task now....