"He has always been a leader in his own right" - Vikram Solanki on Shubman Gill

Ahead of the 16th season of the IPL, Gujarat Titans Director of Cricket Vikram Solanki has earmarked Shubman Gill for a captaincy role in the near future. Solanki claimed that the youngster adopted a leadership role in IPL 2022 and feels he has always been a leader.

Gill was amongst the top five run-getters in IPL 2022 and was the second-highest scorer for the Gujarat Titans with 483 runs in 16 games at an average of 34.50. The right-hander made his IPL debut with the Kolkata Knight Riders and has grown to become one of the best young players in the game today.

Speaking during a virtual media interaction, as quoted by Sportstar, Vikram Solanki said:

"He has always been a leader in his own right. He adopted a leadership role last year and yes I absolutely believe that he can be captain of the future because apart from his immense talent with the bat he has a smart cricket brain too."

The former England cricketer stressed that they will do everything in their power to manage Hardik Pandya's workload in the tournament. He continued:

"Hardik is very professional and looks after his body considering the strain he has to take keeping in mind different formats of the game. Our medical team is in constant contact with the BCCI medical team to ensure he is in the best shape for the tournament."

With the World Test Championship (WTC) final and the 50-over World Cup on the horizon, Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed that the franchises have been instructed to manage players' workloads.

"Might bring some tactical decisions to be made" - Vikram Solanki on new rules in IPL 2023

Keeping in mind the introduction of new rules like impact player and the option to finalize the eleven after the toss, Solanki said it will be interesting to see how they affect the dynamics.

"It’s going to be an interesting change to sort of dynamics. It might bring some tactical decisions to be made. But essentially, the way we are looking at it at the moment, especially given the fact that you can name your sort of eleven from your squad after the toss, will have a slightly different bearing."

Defending champions Gujarat Titans will lock horns with the Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad in the opening game of this year's edition on March 31.