Legendary New Zealand batter Kane Williamson has backed Shubman Gill to find success as captain of Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, saying that the young India batter is a fine thinker of the game.
Gill will lead an IPL team for the first time in his nascent career as the 2022 champions entrusted him with the big responsibility after Hardik Pandya parted ways with the franchise.
At 24, Shubman Gill is all set to become one of the youngest captains to lead an IPL franchise when Gujarat Titans open their campaign against Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, March 24. All eyes will be on the battle between Gill and Hardik Pandya, who will be leading MI after having taken over the captaincy of the 5-time champions from Rohit Sharma. IPL 2024: Full Coverage
Gujarat Titans handed over the captain’s armband to Shubman Gill even as they had the likes of Kane Williamson and Rashid Khan. While Williamson led SunRisers Hyderabad to the final in 2018, Rashid Khan was vice-captain of the Titans in their last two seasons.
There will be pressure on Shubman Gill, but the presence of senior players and supportive team management will help him ease into the role, according to Kane Williamson.
“Obviously, a few changes in the camp. It’s a challenge for every team, there are adjustments to make. It is really an exciting opportunity for Shubman, a world-class player and a great thinker of the game as well. As a team, we are focusing on what’s in front of us in the roles that we have, and it is a fantastic support staff,” Williamson told news agency PTI.
“They are quite clear in how they want to do things. And I am sure they will be a great support to Shubman and the direction of the team.”
Ashish Nehra has already begun work, overseeing the pre-season training camp in Ahmedabad. Gill will also be high on confidence after having played a key role in India’s 4-1 win over England in a recently-concluded Test series.
Gill won the Orange Cap in IPL 2023, scoring 890 runs, including 3 hundreds, in 17 matches and he will be looking forward to continuing his good run in the T20 league.
With quite a few interesting additions, Gujarat Titans have it in them to reach the playoffs for the third successive year.
GUJARAT TITANS SQUAD FOR IPL 2024
Wicketkeepers: Mathew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Minz
Batters: Shubman Gill, David Miller (SA), Abhinav Manohar, Kane Williamson, Sai Sudharsan
All-rounders: Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darshan Nalkande, Shahrukh Khan
Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Josh Little (IRE), R. Sai Kishore, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Sandeep Warrier.
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