Shubman Gill became the captain of Gujarat Titans last season, taking over from Hardik Pandya. His start, however, wasn’t ideal, as the team finished 8th after reaching the finals in 2022 and 2023.
Gill believes that a good captain should keep their batting and leadership separate. He feels it's best to focus on batting when he's at the crease. “When I’m batting, I focus on my game, and when we’re fielding, I think more about the captaincy,” said Gill. He added that keeping the two roles separate helps him perform better.
In 2023, Gill scored a huge 890 runs, but in his first season as captain, his runs dropped to 426, and his strike rate also went down by 10 percent. Despite the season not going as planned, Gill says he learned a lot. “Every day, you learn something new about yourself and your players. To be a good captain, I need to keep working on these things,” he said. He also thanked Vikram Solanki and Ashish Nehra for their support with strategy.
Gill believes that when Gujarat Titans perform well at home, they also do well in away games. “Our record shows that when we perform well at home, we do well away too. So, performing away is just as important,” he said.
Even though last season didn’t go as expected, Gill doesn’t think they need to change much. “We have the highest win percentage over the past three years. If we keep doing the same things, it will be another great season,” he said.
When asked if GT could score 300 runs in an IPL match, Gill said that wasn’t their focus. “We aim to adapt to the conditions. If we can score 240 or 250 runs, we’ll go for it. But sometimes, a score of 150 or 160 might be ideal depending on the pitch,” he explained. He believes that the best teams can adjust to different conditions and situations.
In short, Gill wants his team to be flexible and play according to what the match demands, not just chase big totals for the sake of it.
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