Vikram Solanki, the director of cricket for the IPL team, stated on Thursday that young India opener Shubman Gill has “smart cricketing brain” and has the potential to lead the Gujarat Titans in the future owing to his character and work habits. Given his all-around efforts, including a double century against New Zealand in ODIs, Gill has solidified his place in the Indian team during the past six months or so. He also played well for the Gujarat Titans during their championship season last year. While Gill is also regarded as a leader within the core group, Pandya is expected to continue serving as GT’s captain for their second IPL season.
Solanki praised Shubman for his leadership abilities, which he demonstrates through taking on a significant amount of responsibility. Solanki stated that playing with a player who has an asterisk next to their name is not essential. Shubman took on the leadership role last year by demonstrating a professional attitude towards the game and conducting himself accordingly.
He was second in the list of highest run-getters, only four runs behind Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya, having scored 432 runs in 16 matches at an average of 132.32 with four fifties. While Solanki believes that Shubman has the potential to be a future leader, he clarified that no decision has been made about that yet. Solanki added that Shubman has leadership qualities, is very mature, and possesses an abundant amount of talent.
Shubman has a really sharp cricketing mind, so we’ll keep talking to him and asking for his input on all of our decisions. On March 31, GT will face off against the four-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
“Each captain shall nominate 11 players plus a maximum of 5 substitute fielders in writing to the IPL Match Referee after the toss,” states the revised BCCI IPL playing rules. This practically means that a skipper is free to change his starting eleven after the toss if he sees the need to do so in order to accommodate the demands of the game.
Former England international Solanki predicted that the new regulation would alter the IPL’s dynamics.
Miller will miss the opening game against Chennai Super Kings due to national commitments.
“In terms of preparations, all teams are on the same page. We are setting out to give ourselves the best opportunity of giving a good account of ourselves. Chennai will be no different, we are no different. Chennai will be in equal amounts of pressure as us in that first game.” With India hosting the ODI World Cup in October-November, workload management of the key national players will be important.
Mohammad Shami is one such player, who is coming into the IPL after playing three Tests and as many ODIs against Australia and Solanki said that the franchise will monitor the India pacer.
Miller won’t be playing in the opening game against Chennai Super Kings because of his national commitments. Solanki emphasized that all teams are equally focused on preparing themselves to give their best performance. Workload management of key national players will be vital, especially with India hosting the ODI World Cup in October-November.
Mohammad Shami is one such player who played three Tests and as many ODIs against Australia and will now participate in the IPL. Solanki said that the franchise will keep an eye on Shami and monitor his performance.
He really stood out for us last year. We must appreciate the fact that fast bowling is a highly hard job, therefore we can only wait and see how the issue develops, according to Solanki.
He has played a lot of cricket recently, so we need to take care of Mohammad Shami as much as possible so that he can take care of the Gujarat Titans. He will be one of the guys who we will watch closely and prepare for with every available tool to ensure that he is in the best possible position for every game.
