Mohammed Shami suggested that captaincy arrived too early for Shubman Gill.© BCCI
Injured Gujarat Titans (GT) pacer Mohammed Shami has opened up about Shubman Gill taking over the captaincy of the franchise for IPL 2024. Gill replaced Hardik Pandya as captain of GT following the all-rounder’s trade to Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction last year. Gill will make his captaincy debut against Hardik’s MI at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Speaking on the change in leadership, Shami, who has been ruled out of the season due to an injury, suggested that captaincy arrived too early for Gill.
“As you said (the anchor suggested that captaincy came early for Gill), the captaincy came early, and he wouldn’t have expected it; I feel the same. But you had to take the responsibility one day. You have been performing well in past seasons and producing good performances in international cricket, too,” Shami told Cricbuzz.
However, Shami also had a piece of advice for Gill, saying that the youngster shouldn’t let the captaincy pressure affect his game.
“You don’t have to take too much load over the captaincy, just be normal and have patience. The more you stay calm, the better it will be. You have the responsibility now; you can’t say no. Just focus on your skills and how you can balance your team,” he added.
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.
At GT, Gill has big shoes to fill after Hardik led the franchise to the title in their debut season in 2022, before also leading them to the final last season where they lost to Chennai Super Kings.
After winning the Orange Cap in the previous edition, Gill would be raring to take on the Mumbai Indians in GT’s campaign opener.
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