‘He has enjoyed the captaincy’: Gary Kirsten backs GT’s skipper Shubman Gill ahead of their must win clash vs CSK

Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 59th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 in Ahmedabad on May 10. Ahead of the clash, GT’s mentor Gary Kirsten has backed their skipper Shubman Gill and is hopeful that the 24-year-old will perform in the upcoming matches. However, GT had a very dull season in this year's IPL. They are currently standing right at the bottom of the points table with only four wins from 11 matches.

“I think he has enjoyed the captaincy, it's something that takes time to really master, so I think he enjoyed it this season. He is a world-class player so I have no doubt that in the next 3 games, he will put in 1-2 good performances, no doubt,” Gary Kirsten said in the pre-match conference.

IPL 2024 season for Shubman Gill has been full of ups and downs. He has scored 322 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 137.61 with only two half-centuries. He has failed to recreate his last season’s magic scoring 890 runs in 17 matches at a strike rate of 137.61.

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Mohammed Shami’s absence

Former South African cricketer further talked about the difficulties that GT has faced because of their ace pacer Mohammed Shami ruling out due to an ankle injury.

“Of course, you do miss certain players, someone like Mohammed Shami in the last 2 years, there are certain kind of players that are difficult to replace. It takes time to find a feat”, Kirsten added.

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GT’s campaign this season

Gary Kirsten admitted that GT have failed to play the brand of cricket that they played in the last two seasons and is hopeful of promising performance from the team in the last three matches. Notably, GT clinched the IPL trophy in 2022 and in 2023 they were the runners-up.

"We haven’t played the kind of cricket that we know we can play like we did in the last season. You get exposed in certain areas due to lack of consistency, so there have been components of our game where they have not been as consistent as they have been in the past. So far the last three games, we just want to play solid cricket in all departments of the game because if you don’t, you’ll get exposed," Kirsten concluded.

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