Will Shubman Gill become a Gujarat Titan in his new role as captain in IPL? | Cricket News

With captaincy experience in only a handful of matches under his belt, Shubman Gill will now lead Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League. With Hardik Pandya moving back to Mumbai Indians, Gill has been appointed skipper of Titans, the same franchise that took a punt on Pandya, who had only led in Under-16 cricket.In comparison to Pandya, Gill has more captaincy experience. The 24-year-old has led Punjab in two T20s, India A in six L A games and has also captained in four first-class matches, all of them in 2019.
Gill starred with the bat as Titans won the title in their inaugural season. He was also their highest run-getter in IPL 2023 with 890 runs in 17 innings, which included three centuries, as Titans finished runners-up. But the 2024 season will be Gill’s first leadership assignment in the IPL.

🫡#AavaDe pic.twitter.com/tCizo2Wt2b
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) November 27, 2023
Karsan Ghavri, who saw the raw talent in an 11-year-old Gill, feels he’s ready to take the next step in his cricketing journey.
“I personally feel that it will be a great learning process for him. I am sure he will grow as a player. I hope that he will handle the pressure well,” says Ghavri.
The former India left-arm medium pacer was leading BCCI’s pace bowling academy at Mohali’s PCA Stadium when he first saw Gill as an 11-year-old, and has followed his progress ever since.

“Captaincy is a lot more than scoring runs. It is a combination of lot of things. He will have to walk the talk, how he places fielders, how he manages tight situations. Everything will be counted,” says Ghavri.
Ghavri believes Gill won’t go the way of Ravindra Jadeja, who took over from MS Dhoni as Chennai Super Kings captain but didn’t make the desired impact, prompting the franchise to bring back their original leader after only a few matches.
Gujarat Titans batter Shubman Gill in action during the IPL 2023 cricket playoff match between Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad. (PTI)
“He is calm, cool and has got all those traits that Dhoni had. But there is a question mark: Will all those qualities sync? We will have to wait and see,” wonders Ghavri.
“Ravindra Jadeja was never captaincy material. He’s a good all-rounder but never had those captaincy traits. I think Shubman has got that man-management quality in him and he will do better.”

However, former national selector Bhupinder Singh Sr, who has seen Gill’s rise from age-group cricket, feels the responsibility has come a bit too soon for him.
“I am happy for Shubman. But I feel everybody is in a hurry nowadays. Cricket has gone to the corporates and in the IPL, the franchise needs a superstar to lead their side. Gill is definitely the next big thing in Indian cricket. He can certainly emulate Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in the future. But captaincy can be a double-edged sword,” Bhupinder says.
He feels the franchise will need to be patient with Gill and give him time to grow as a captain.
“Hardik won in the first year; there is no guarantee that Shubman will win it too. They need to groom him. He will certainly play for India for a decade at least, and will captain India as well and the franchise has to show patience. If they remove him after a failure in one season, it might harm his batting,” he says.
Shubman Gill (left) will take over the burden of captaincy at the Gujarat Titans from Hardik Pandya.
Big challenge
Former India fielding coach R Sridhar explains why captaining an IPL side is more difficult than leading a state or national team.
“There are different challenges. With players from so many countries, one needs to develop a bond with them. You have to spend time with them to earn their trust,” Sridhar tells The Indian Express.
“In a Ranji Trophy team, there are many youngsters alongside the senior pros. The culture in a Ranji team remains more or less the same, since all of them are from the same state. In the national team, players come from different cultures and backgrounds but from the same country,” he adds.
Since Gill emerged as a breakout star from the 2018 U-19 World Cup, he has been seen as someone who will take the baton from Kohli as India’s next great batsman. In his international career so far, he has ticked almost all the boxes and showed that the hype around him since age-group cricket days was not misplaced. But will he succeed as a captain?
Sridhar feels Gill will thrive in the new role.
Mumbai: India’s Virat Kohli greets Shubman Gill as he celebrates scoring fifty runs during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-final match between India and New Zealand, at the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. (PTI)
“You have to throw him in the ring to see what he is capable of. I think he is capable of delivering more than we expect. When given responsibility, he will learn it the hard way; even if he fails, it will be worth it,” he says.
“It is not fair to compare him with MS, Kohli, Rohit or Hardik. He is a lovely kid, and I am sure he will just be himself. Let him captain first, we can assess him after the season. Captaincy comes with a lot of responsibility. It will make him a better person and player. But he also needs to be guarded. The youth, the exuberance needs to be kept in check.”

Khushpreet Singh Aulkah, who has worked closely with Gill right from their U-14 days, says his friend always had captaincy ambitions.
“He wants to achieve what MS Dhoni has done at CSK, Rohit Sharma at Mumbai Indians, and Gautam Gambhir at Kolkata Knight Riders. He is someone who loves challenges and responsibility,” says Khushpreet. “As far as I know him, apart from playing for India, captaining India is his big dream.”