Playing in T20 World Cup will be huge, but not thinking that far ahead: Gill
There is no bigger honour than representing India in the T20 World Cup, but as Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill feels he will be “doing injustice to himself and his team” if national selection occupies his mind.
The 24-year-old, who scored 890 runs in IPL 2023 and is among the top-10 batters in the current list, believes that if he is “picked” it will be another chance for him to have a shot at glory. If he is not picked, he says he will wish the selected 15 the very best from the bottom of his heart.
“Playing for India is the biggest thing, but if I start thinking about the World Cup, I will be doing injustice to my current team (GT) and myself. If I have to be picked for the T20
MADURAI
World Cup, I will be picked. But right now, my focus is on the IPL and how to get the best out of my team,” said Gill.
For any player appearing in a World Cup is a dream, but Gill is learning the art of controlling the controllables.
“Obviously, as a player, I want to be there and play the World Cup, and get the opportunity to represent my country at the highest level — the biggest stage of T20 cricket. Having played in a World Cup last year, it would be great to play another one. But I am not thinking that far ahead,” he added.
“I scored almost 900 runs last season and if I have to be picked, I will be picked. If not, best of luck to those who are,” he said.
Captaining Titans is Gill’s rst tryst with leadership and, perhaps, through its prism, he is learning more about ‘Shubman-The Human’.
“It’s exactly one month and it (captaincy) has been good for me. I have learnt a lot of new things about myself, about the team, and it has been quite interesting so far,” he said.
When asked to elaborate, he spoke about how trust is a two-way street built on shared vulnerabilities of the leader and his players.
“When you are just a player, you are just thinking in terms of how you can help the team in terms of batting and elding, but when you are the captain, you also need to nd a way to get the best out of the players.
“You need to gain their trust in order to get the best out of them. I need to show my vulnerability so that they can show theirs,” he said.