Ahead of IPL 2024, Ashish Nehra spoke candidly about the guard changes at Gujarat Titans. Following Hardik Pandya’s departure, Shubman Gill took over as captain.
Even before the mini-auction for the upcoming season of domestic cricket’s biggest extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise made its biggest announcement. Following the retention deadline, the all-cash deal that the record-setters completed for Hardik Pandya with Gujarat Titans (GT) was a blockbuster trade. The Mumbai Paltan announced a leadership change a few days after approving Hardik’s return home for the 2024 Indian Premier League. The white-ball maestro took over for Rohit Sharma as the new team captain.
While MI announced Pandya as Rohit’s replacement in Mumbai, Gujarat Titans, the 2022 winners, elevated opener Shubman Gill to the first position. Gujarat Titans captain Hardik, a former world no. 1 hitter, was named captain following Mumbai’s IPL 2024 confirmation of Hardik’s signing. Regarding the new leadership at Gujarat Titans, head coach Ashish Nehra acknowledged that it would be challenging for his team to succeed in Pandya’s absence. Pandya led GT to the IPL championship in their inaugural season.
“It’s challenging to replace a player with Hardik Pandya’s skill and experience. We’ve seen Gill’s transformation over the last three to four years. After the IPL 2023 mini-auction in Dubai, Nehra gave his opinions in a virtual press conference. “He’s 24 or 25 years old, but he has a good head on his shoulders,” Nehra said. Gill, India’s all-format opener, led the Titans in runs scored during the previous campaign.
Gill was signed by GT before the 2022 auction after being released by the Kolkata Knight Riders in 2018. It was then decided that rookie GT could sign three big-name players before the 2022 auction. Gill scored 483 runs in 16 games for the Gujarat Titans in his rookie season. Last season, the Indian opener took the Orange Cap after smashing 890 runs in 17 innings.
“We have faith in him. We appointed him captain for this reason. I don’t base my decisions solely on outcomes. Sure, outcomes are crucial, but there are other factors to consider when it comes to captaincy. Gill is the ideal candidate (for captaincy), in our opinion,” Nehra continued.