On Shubman Gill Replacing Hardik Pandya As Gujarat Titans Captain, Coach Gary Kirsten’s Honest Take

The Gujarat Titans reached the final of the Indian Premier League for two consecutive seasons under Hardik Pandya’s leadership, winning one of them. But, with Hardik now leading the Mumbai Indians, the Gujarat Titans‘ baton has fallen in the hands of Shubman Gill, a young batter who doesn’t have much leadership experience. With Hardik now leading the Mumbai Indians, the spotlight would be on Gill to see how efficiently he steps into the void left by the India all-rounder. As far as the franchise’s batting coach Gary Kirsten is concerned, the support staff will do everything needed to help Gill succeed in the leadership role.

“I think the leadership is going to be an important role for him and I know he’s really keen to do the job and we, as coaches, just need to assist him in making sure he’s getting the best out of his players, and he’s leading the team appropriately and in the way we want him to lead,” Kirsten said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Gill might be raw when it comes to captaincy but he is widely considered the ‘next big thing’ in Indian cricket, as far as his batting is concerned. But, that doesn’t take away the fact that there will be new challenges for Gill to ace as he takes up the captaincy role. Kirsten is hoping to assist the young lad, who had a magnificent IPL 2023 campaign, along the way.

“He’s a quality player. He’s a thoroughly nice person. He’s got massive motivation and determination as an individual, which we’ve seen when playing for India. But like any new leader, he’s starting from scratch, and he’s going to be met with challenges along the way and we, as coaches, will just have to assist him along the way,” Kirsten added.