'When I am out there batting, I want to play as a batter' - Shubman Gill discards captaincy baggage in IPL 2024

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill led from the front against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday, scoring a vital 35 runs to guide his team to a close three-wicket win. However, Gill revealed that while batting, he doesn't let the captaincy responsibilities weigh on his mind, allowing him to focus solely on his role as a batter.

The young skipper acknowledged that he would have liked to finish the game earlier but was pleased to secure the two points. When asked about juggling captaincy and batting, he displayed his uncluttered mindset on how approaches his batting. Gill made it amply clear that he feels no baggage of captaincy once he is out in the middle and bats like he usually does. As a result, the way he got out in the last IPL 2024 encounter had nothing to do with his decision of the shot-making. Besides, the 24-year-old also mentioned that apart from the over-rate issues, he was enjoying the new role as GT captain.

"When I am out there batting, I want to play as a batter. He (Livingstone) was trying to rush me there but the ball that I got out, I would have made that decision even without that bit," Gill said during the post-match presentation.

"Would have liked to finish it earlier, good to get those two points. It's been very exciting for me to be able to take up this role. Except for the over-rate, everything is good," Gill concluded.

Also Read: Shubman Gill is a gift for Indian cricket: Robin Uthappa

Gujarat Titans stumbled in run chase, Captain Shubman Gill laid a good start

Meanwhile, the match between  Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans was a closely contested affair at Mullanpur. Batting first, PBKS had a decent opening partnership from Prabhsimran Singh (35), and Sam Curran (20), and Harpreet Brar's blistering 29* in the end helped the host to post 142/9 on the board. Sai Kishore was the pick of the bowlers for GT with impressive figures of 4/33.

Also Read: Sai Kishore should be regular member of Indian cricket team: Robin Uthappa

Chasing 143, GT lost Wriddhiman Saha early, but Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan (31) steadied the innings with a 41-run stand. However, after Gill's dismissal, GT stumbled, losing many wickets to find themselves in a tricky position at 103/5. It was then that Rahul Tewatia played a match-winning knock of 36* off just 18 balls to take GT over the line with five balls to spare.

With that win, GT now are in the sixth position on the points table and will face Delhi Capitals in their next encounter on Wednesday, April 24, in Delhi.