Weight of leadership doesn’t bear heavily on Shubman Gill, says Vikram Solanki

The weight of leadership might bear heavily on some players, but Shubman Gill has thrived in his role as the leader of the Gujarat Titans, said the franchise's director of cricket, Vikram Solanki, on Monday. Gill, who took over as the full-time skipper of the Titans last year, has been leading from the front, having scored 465 runs in 10 matches with five fifties at 51.66 and a strike rate of over 162.

As far as leadership is concerned, he's really grown into the role of captaincy,” former England cricketer Solanki told the media here during GT’s training session at the Wankhede Stadium. When you have somebody who is as gifted, as talented, as exceptional as Shubman is as a batsman, sometimes you might have concerns around whether the weight of leadership would bear heavy. I don't think that's been the case. You sometimes see that people thrive in those sorts of responsibility roles, and Shubman has certainly been that,” he said.

For the fourth-placed Titans, Shubman has also found a perfect foil in left-handed B Sai Sudharsan as an opening partner. On his part, Sudharsan has topped the charts for the Titans with 504 runs in 10 matches at 50.40 and a strike rate of 154.12 with five half-centuries.

You can only credit them to their hard work, credit their success, credit their partnership to their hard work,” he said. There is the nuance that they are similar in terms of how they approach the game. They are fairly traditional in terms of how they set themselves up for the game. They have, at the very base, a solid technique and an understanding and appreciation for facing that new ball, where you can have some movement.

“They've both, I suppose, opened the batting in red-ball cricket when your technique is challenged so they have served that sort of apprenticeship,” Solanki added.

Solanki refused to say if there were any technical issues that Rashid Khan is facing, but said the team will back their ace spinner. He's working extremely hard, and it's the work that he's putting in. As far as technicalities and things, that's a matter for him, and I'd rather not comment on any technical matter in particular. Suffice to say that he's worked extremely hard,” he said. He's a proud bowler. He's achieved a huge amount in this game. To be where he is in his career, to have achieved everything he has. Nobody goes through a career without finding some sort of period where it challenges you. We'll be supportive of Rashid exactly in the way that I've expressed about other people as well.”