NEW DELHI: Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s T20I captain, expressed on Saturday that Shubman Gill would emerge as an exceptional leader for both Gujarat Titans in the IPL and the Indian cricket team. This season, Gill has demonstrated remarkable leadership, amassing 465 runs across 10 matches at an average of 51.66, including six half-centuries.
“Shubman Gill, this is his second year leading the team and he has been getting better and better each and every game,” Rashid shared during a media interaction.
“In the future definitely he is going to be one of the very, very good leaders for India, not only GT but for India as well. He has those qualities and skills. But it’s very important that you have that good connection with the head coach where he makes those things a little bit easier for you,” he added.
Gujarat Titans have demonstrated impressive performance with seven victories in 10 matches, showing substantial improvement from their eighth-place finish last season under Gill’s captaincy.
“Last year things just didn’t go our way,” Rashid reflected.
“We were trying our best but it just didn’t go our way. Some results, you know, we could have had them in our way but didn’t go.”
“But it’s quite important that you have that good relation and understanding between the head coach and the captain and I feel like Ashish bhai and Shubman bhai, they both have that kind of great understanding and that’s quite important,” Rashid noted.
The Afghan spinner highlighted Gill’s exemplary leadership whilst discussing GT’s success in the current IPL season.
“It’s overall a team effort. Starting from Ashish bhai, how he manages the team, then captain Shubman Gill, how he manages the inside and then how he is leading from the front.
“That’s something which sets an example for us as a player that, yes, the captain is leading from the front. To be honest, we just keep the things simple. The simpler we keep, the better we perform. We don’t really much think about the result but we really think about the process and the mindset and the preparation,” Rashid explained.
Addressing his own performance of seven wickets in 10 matches this season, Rashid acknowledged room for improvement.
“Its a tough question like a tough season for me,” he admitted.
“Even if you see from yesterday’s bowling (against Sunrisers Hyderabad) as well, I didn’t bowl even 40 per cent of what I have been known for. The length and the line, that’s something which gives me a clear idea that yes, it’s not just about the batter, I missed my line and length.
“If I miss my line and length on any day, I feel any batter is going to score runs against me. I think the length and the line was missing but I just need to focus on that. Next game I play, I just focus on hitting the right area consistently and that’s something which will make me more effective in the game,” he elaborated.
Regarding the tournament standings, Rashid stated, “This competition does not allow you that, yes we have seven games and we need to win one more to lock ourselves in the top four. Mumbai Indians have five or six back-to-back wins and the game against them will be big for us.”
