New Delhi, May 17 (IANS) Gujarat Titans’ (GT) assistant coach Parthiv Patel said Shubman Gill has been fantastic as the side’s captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, adding that one can feel his presence as a leader in the team’s dressing room. Gill, 25, has been the front-runner to succeed the recently retired Rohit Sharma as India’s next Test captain ahead of their five-match tour of England, starting on June 20.

“See, he has been fantastic. I thought the way he has been around with the group, I don’t need to do any kind of mention him. The way he is handling the situation, he is scoring a lot of runs – he has been very good, proactive on the field and off the field also. He spends a lot of time with young players,” said Patel in the pre-match press conference.

“I have said this before also, you can feel like Shubman Gill is the captain in the dressing room, and that’s what you want in a leader, and that’s how he has been. So, I am sure, going forward, whatever the talk is, I think that’s something I can’t comment on. But Shubman Gill as GT captain has been fantastic,” he said.

Gill has captained GT to the top of the points table so far, and a win over Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday will seal their playoff spot. With Gill, B. Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler scoring the bulk of runs for GT in the season so far, Parthiv Patel, the middle-order, has it in them to step up under pressure and take the team to victory whenever needed.

“See, it depends on how you want to look at the situation – whether the glass is half full or half empty. I think we are quite happy with the way our top order has batted. So, they are not giving them a chance to be exposed at the moment. But we are quite happy with the way Buttler, Sai Sudarshan, and Shubman Gill batted throughout this tournament.”

“Sherfane (Rutherford), whenever he has had an opportunity, he has performed as well. Washington Sundar has won us a game in Hyderabad, where he scored a brilliant 49. So, obviously, we are winning and playing well. Once the situation comes in, we feel as a team that our middle order is good enough to perform under pressure.”

Buttler will leave GT after the IPL 2025 league stage to join England for their white-ball series against the West Indies. In his absence, Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis will be the replacement player.

IPL 2025’s revised schedule, after being paused for ten days due to cross-border tension between India and Pakistan, has meant that many overseas players have either pulled out or will leave after the league stage to join their respective national teams.

Patel said GT will look to fill the gap caused by Buttler’s absence when the playoffs stage comes. “See, now we know that he won’t be there for the play-offs. Everyone knows about it. So, for us, right now, the important part is that he is there for the last three games, and then we will see how the team balance is coming up, and what team combination we want to go in with.”

“But see, someone like Buttler has been a great performer for us. He has kept well and is like a leader of the group. But after that, we will see if that situation comes in. But as of now, he is there for three games,” said Patel.

Asked if the break in the tournament will affect GT’s winning momentum, Patel stated, “We are in a situation right now where obviously we would have liked to play games, as we had momentum. But the situation was such that you can’t do anything about it.”

“You have to just accept it and move on from there. We obviously went back, and a lot of our players didn’t go back. We were training back in Ahmedabad. So, we feel that these are the things which are not in your control, and you don’t want to think about them.”

“At the moment, we are playing good cricket and we want to carry on with that. We all have to accept it and find a way out of it. Obviously, I can’t speak for any other team, whose players are losing or how they are going to cope with it.”

“But as you said, we are not losing too many players, and we are quite okay with whatever the situation is. We are quite confident that the players who will come in will step up and perform for us,” Patel added.

–IANS

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