Following Hardik Pandya’s return to Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans were quick to announce Shubman Gill as their new captain.
Pandya is one of the most difficult players to replace in T20 cricket. There is a reason why the fast bowling all-rounder, who is also a local player, has won the IPL five times. In the two years that Gujarat Titans existed as a franchise, they were crowned IPL champions in 2022 and came close to making consecutive appearances in 2023. Gill, 24, is rumored to be a potential successor to Pandya.
Gill had an outstanding year in international cricket and established himself as India’s first choice in all three formats. He had a particularly successful year in ODI cricket, scoring five hundreds and averaging over 60, and this year he also scored hundreds internationally in both Test and T20I cricket. Gill also scored 160 runs in his IPL 2023, making him the top run scorer and in the process he reached 300 runs.
However, not everyone was happy with the decision to hand over the Gujarat captaincy to Gill at this point in his career, with respected commentator and pundit Harsha Bhogle questioning the decision. has been expressed. After announcing Gill as Gujarat’s new captain, Bhogle told He will need to take the next step in the coming months as he prepares for the Test series and the T20 World Cup where he will compete for the spot.To become captain in IPL 2025, replace Kane Williamson in GT for one year It might be a good thing that we were able to do that.”
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Gill is the first choice in the Indian Test team, but he is yet to translate his excellent white-ball form into the five-day match. There was definitely reason for optimism, though, as Gill made his debut in India’s famous series win in Australia in 2020-21, averaging just 32.20 over 18 Tests.
As mentioned by Bogle, Kane Williamson was an obvious alternative to captain the Gujarat team if the Titans management felt it was too early for Gill. Williamson is one of the most experienced captains in world football, having captained the New Zealand national team since 2016 and, more recently, the Sunrisers.He has captained the Hyderabad national team several times.