Virender Sehwag says Shubman Gill’s captaincy was not up to the mark after GT’s loss against PBKS

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag reckons Shubman Gill’s captaincy was not up to the mark after Gujarat Titans suffered an 11-run loss against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. 

Sehwag reckons Gill was not proactive as a leader while changing his bowlers. The former Indian Test opener questioned Gill for bringing on Arshad Khan in the Powerplay overs when Mohammed Siraj was bowling well with the new ball.

The young left-arm seamer conceded 21 runs in the fifth over he bowled whereas Siraj was taken for 23 runs in the final over of the innings by Shashank Singh.

“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.

On the other hand, Gill admitted they had their chances with both bat and ball but failed to grab them against the visitors.

“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.

Gujarat Titans will next take on Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Saturday.