da dobrowin： Titans had the lowest run rate of all teams in the first six overs last season
da bet vitoria： ESPNcricinfo staff19-Mar-20256:35
Chopra, Harbhajan back Gill to star for ‘strong’ GT
Shubman Gill wants to take charge of Gujarat Titans’ (GT) batting in IPL 2025 to enable them to “maximise the powerplay”.In IPL 2024, GT had the lowest run rate (7.72) in the first six overs, and Gill struck at 131.08 in the phase. Only his GT team-mate Sai Sudharsan (115.49) scored slower among batters with at least 150 runs in the powerplay last year. After making back-to-back finals in their first two seasons, GT finished eighth in IPL 2024, Gill’s first season as captain. Now he wants to set the tone with the bat.”The plan is to score as many runs as possible, and lose as little wickets as possible,” Gill said at GT’s pre-season presser on Wednesday. “We did not do well in the powerplay or [the phases] after that last season. We couldn’t play the way we wanted to in the powerplay and even after that, and that shows in the fact that we couldn’t qualify [for the playoffs].Related
IPL 2025 FAQs: What's new this season? Any changes in format?
GT bank on new Gill-Buttler opening act
Matthew Wade joins Gujarat Titans as assistant coach
An IPL soaked in soap-opera intrigue
“As a batsman, it is my responsibility to bat in a way that allows us to maximise the powerplay. That is what I strive for, and hopefully, this time we rectify the errors from last season.”IPL 2024 was a high-scoring season that saw eight scores of 250 or more. But Gill does not want his team to presume that this season will be similar.”I don’t think as a team we’re trying to chase 300 as a total. That’s not what our aim is,” he said. “We will assess what the condition is and what the situation is, and we want to play that kind of cricket. If the wicket or the situation allows us to make 240, 250, [or] 260 runs, yeah, we are not saying no to that, but there might be a situation where 150, [or] 160 would be an ideal total on a wicket.”Hence, if I feel as a team if you are only looking to play one way, then you’re not adapting, and the hallmark of a great team is that it adapts the best to the suitable conditions and the challenges that are thrown at them.”Shubman Gill’s first season as IPL captain saw Gujarat Titans finish eighth•AFP/Getty Images
IPL 2024 was Gill’s first real shot at captaincy at the senior level. He had led his domestic team Punjab on only two occasions before that. But since then, he has captained India on the tour of Zimbabwe last July, and was elevated to be Rohit Sharma’s deputy for the tour of Sri Lanka as well as for the 2025 Champions Trophy. This season will be about his growth as a leader.”I’ve had more experience captaining Gujarat [Titans] than the Indian cricket team for sure,” Gill said, “And the experience that I get here from Ashu [Ashish Nehra, head coach] or Vikram [Solanki, director of cricket] is immensely pleasurable for me. It was my first year as captain, so there were a lot of things I could learn from. The challenging thing is you learn new things about a player or even about yourself. There were things I needed to work on, if I want to be a good captain.”I’ve played under various captains, and each captain has a different quality, and there are some qualities that resonate with you as a person, and those are the kind of qualities that you tend to take forward, and that is what I’ll try to do.”Gill scored close to 900 runs in IPL 2023, and started on a promising note last season. He scored 255 runs at a strike rate of 151.78 in his first six matches of IPL 2024 but his form tapered off thereafter and he ended up with 426 runs at 147.40. Ahead of the new season, Gill was clear on compartmentalising batting and captaincy.18:18
Long-time coming: Will the script change for RCB, DC or PBKS?
“The more we keep batting and captaincy separate, the better it is,” he said. “In my experience, it is good if I don’t mix it. When I go out to bat, the best thing for me is to play as a batter and take decisions accordingly. Captaincy role comes after I am dismissed, or when we are fielding or [are] off the field. When I am batting, I focus only on batting.”Despite missing out on the playoffs last year, Gill drew confidence from GT’s overall record in the IPL. They have won 28 matches in three seasons, the most by any team in the last three years.”If you look at our record over the past three years, we are the team with the most wins and the highest percentage of wins,” Gill said. “If we continue to do that, it’s going to be another great season for us. And just because it’s a new season, I don’t think we have to do anything different.”I think for the past three years we have played the most consistent cricket. I don’t think we need to change anything. We’ll continue to keep playing the cricket that we have been playing over the past three years.”
