Shubman has leadership qualities and is very mature: Gujarat Titans’ Director of Cricket

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to begin on March 31 with Gujarat Titans (GT) taking on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the curtain raiser in Ahmedabad. Following the conclusion of the bilateral series between India and Australia, all attention has shifted to the 16th edition of the glamorous league as most of the players are expected to soon join camps of their respective franchises. Meanwhile, many other players including CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni have already been undertaking practice since the beginning of this month.

Among all others, Gujarat's ace batter Shubman Gill is also expected to soon join the GT camp. Gill who has had a tremendous year so far, has recently been praised by the top brass of Gujarat's management for his composure. GT’s Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki said that Shubman Gill has the potential to succeed Hardik Pandya as the franchise's new captain in the future. Solanki also said that the youngster is a leader in his own right, adding that he had adopted leadership skills during the 2022 edition.

"Shubman is a leader in his own right for the simple fact that he takes on a lot of responsibility. In my mind, it is not important that you play with an asterisk next to a player’s name. Shubman adapted the leadership role last year, by his conduct, by the way, he goes about, with his professional attitude towards the game,” Solanki said.

"Do I think that Shubman will be a leader in the future? Yes absolutely, but no decision has been made about that as yet. He has leadership qualities and is very mature who has an abundant amount of talent," he added.

Gill was Gujarat's second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2022

Gujarat Titans led by Hardik Pandya won the title last year in their maiden IPL season after defeating the inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals in the final. Gill was one of the star performers for Titans last year. Aided by four half-centuries, the 23-year-old batter scored 483 runs in 16 matches for GT in IPL 2022. He was the fifth-highest run-scorer of the tournament and the second-highest for Gujarat after skipper Hardik Pandya.

Following his impressive spell with GT in the 2022 IPL season, Gill also earned an all-format call-back in the Indian team where he managed to thoroughly impress everyone with his clinical performances. Opening in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy, he also scored a ton in the final Test of the series in Ahmedabad, earlier in March.

Gill is having a tremendous run in the ongoing year as he scored his maiden ODI double century against New Zealand to become the youngest player to score an ODI double ton. In the process, he also went past Sachin Tendulkar's 186* to notch up the highest-ever ODI score against New Zealand.

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