Shubman Gill feels it is going to be a very exciting challenge for him to lead Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024. Gill, who was Titans’ vice-captain, was promoted to the captaincy role after Hardik Pandya re-joined Mumbai Indians in an all-cash trade deal.

Gill, 24, will become one of the youngest captains in IPL history and he will look to lead from the front. Pandya, on the other hand, had led Gujarat Titans to glory in IPL 2022 and then also took the franchise to the final in the previous season.

Meanwhile, Gill scored 890 runs in 17 matches of IPL 2023 for Gujarat Titans at an average of 59.33 and a strike rate of 157.80. Thus, he played a key role in the team’s success and finished as the highest run-getter of the season.

“I’m going to be captaining Gujarat Titans. That’s a very exciting challenge. And there are going to be a lot of learnings from that experience. And hopefully, I can take those learnings and improve and work on myself based on those experiences and learnings. And hopefully, that is going to help me in the next year,” said Gill during CNBCTV18’s India Business Leader Awards 2023 where he was adjudged the Sports Leader of the Year.

Gill is also part of the two-match Test series against South Africa and admitted it is always a big challenge to play red-ball cricket in Australian and South African conditions.

“We have a series coming up in South Africa as well. And I think the test series in Australia and South Africa series are going to be a really big ones. So those are the matches that I’m looking forward to. Hard work and consistency is two things that I strive to be better at,” Gill added.

Gill has been named in the T20I and Test squads for the South Africa series and has been rested for the three-match ODI series. The first T20I between India and South Africa will be played at Kingsmead, Durban on 10th December.