“Shubman Gill’s captaincy was not upto the mark” - Former India opener’s brutal statement after GT vs PBKS IPL 2025 match
Former India opening batter Virender Sehwag was critical of Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill's decision-making during their 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) match against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). The 2022 IPL champions lost by 11 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, March 25, to begin their campaign on a poor note.
GT were subjected to a mauling by the PBKS batters after opting to bowl first at their home venue. Shubman Gill failed to put a dent into the opposition's momentum as runs kept flowing. Priyansh Arya (23-ball 47) started well before Shreyas Iyer (42-ball 97*) and Shashank Singh (16-ball 44*) took over.
All of GT bowlers, barring Sai Kishore, ended with an economy rate of over 10. The newly forged pace trio of Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, and Prasidh Krishna was ineffective while spin wizard Rashid Khan also failed ot make an impact. PBKS slammed 243-5, the highest they have ever scored in the first innings in the IPL.
Virender Sehwag opined that Gill was not on point with his bowling changes and criticized him for pulling Siraj off the attack way too early in the powerplay.
"I thought that Shubman Gill's captaincy was not up to the mark, he was not ready, he was not proactive. When Siraj was bowling well, he brought on Arshad Khan, who I think conceded 21 runs in the powerplay, and that over changed the momentum. If Siraj is bowling well with the new ball, there is no point holding him back for the death overs, and you see he also got hit in the end," Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
"A captain should have the proactive-ness to know that if one of his bowlers is doing well, he should have an extended spell," he added.
Siraj had conceded 14 runs off his first two overs on his GT debut. But instead of bowling a third straight over to continue his spell with Kagiso Rabada, skipper Gill handed the ball to left-arm pacer Arshad Khan.
Although the youngster got the new ball to move around, he was not spared by PBKS opener Priyansh Arya. The debutant slammed four boundaries in the over to stamp the team's authority in the powerplay.
"We got our chances when we were bowling and batting" - GT captain Shubman Gill laments missed opportunities across both innings in defeat to PBKS
At this point, Shubman Gill is no stranger to captaincy. He led GT during the 2024 IPL and also Team India in the T20I series against Zimbabwe. Since then, he has been elevated to the vice-captaincy role in the ODI setup too.
The opening batter tried to make an impact during the steep run chase, scoring a quick-fire 14-ball 33, but perished to Glenn Maxwell in the final over of the powerplay.
Gill cited poor fielding and the phase between the 16th and 18th overs as reasons behind the loss. GT could only score 15 runs during the three-over period, which coincided with Impact Player Vijaykumar Vyshak's introduction.
"We got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Conceded too many runs at the back end, we let ourselves down with the fielding. Too many misfields and dropped catches. Matter of chases in such games. Those three overs in the middle we scored around 18 runs. We didn't score as many in the first three overs. That cost us the game," Gill said during the post-match presentation (via Cricbuzz).
GT will next face the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the same venue on Saturday, March 29.