Shubman Gill an excellent captain, stands up for his players: Gerald Coetzee

Time of India

28-05-2025

The GT skipper will look to lead his side through the eliminator after falling short of making the top-two in the IPL (Image via PTI)
Mumbai:
Having played this IPL season for the Gujarat Titans under the captaincy of
Shubman Gill
, South Africa's pace bowling allrounder
Gerald Coetzee
has a fair idea of the 25-year-old's leadership style.
Describing his experience of playing under Gill, who is now India's Test skipper, Coetzee said in an online interaction organized by GT on Tuesday, "Under Shubman, it's just been excellent. He's cool. He's calm. But he also stands up for the players. He performs as a captain. So, those are all good qualities he has as a captain. He's reasonably young. So hopefully, you know, as he keeps playing for India, he's already a world-class player.
If he becomes a world-class captain, I mean, that'll only be to the benefit of Indian cricket."
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Coetzee admired the way Gill handled the bowlers, including himself, at GT. "I think there's a good balance. I think he allows the bowler to express what he's thinking. And if he feels something different, there will be a very short discussion and then a decision would be made, which I think is a really good quality for a captain.
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You want the bowler who is bowling the ball to set his field. But the captain also is the main leader.
So, he might have a tactical idea. And that's how there's a short conversation and a decision is made. So, the clarity has been good. I think he's excellent when it comes to that department."
For someone who was a part of the South African Under-19 team back in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, Coetzee had a fair look at Gill's talent in that tournament.
Gill scored 372 runs in six matcxhes at an average of 124.00, with three fifties and a hundred to play a stellar role in India's triumph on that occasion. "Yes, I do remember Shubman. It's hard to forget that Indian Under-19 team. They were so good. I think Shubman had an average of 99 or 100 so it would have been impossible to look past him in that World Cup! Not much more.
I think he did as well as you would expect in that World Cup.
There's not really much more to say. I think when they won, there weren't really any surprises there," praised the 24-year-old.
Shubman Gill story: From a remote village near the border to India's Test captain
Coetzee was obviously pleased for his GT teammate Sai Sudharsan, who received his maiden India call-up for the upcoming five-Test tour of England. "I've spoken to him, congratulated him, he definitely deserved it. I think he is going to be, he already is a world-class batter. And I think he's only going to get better.
He is so good. So, very exciting for Indian cricket."
One factor which could worry GT is that their ace leg-spinner Rashid Khan hasn't delivered this year according to his massive reputation. In 14 matches in IPL 2025, Rashid has taken just nine wickets at 53.66, conceding 9.47 runs per over. Dismissing concerns around Rashid's poor form, Coetzee said, "No, not really. We see the way he trains. Rashid's done what he's done for years.
I don't know how many players in the world have more T20 games than him with the numbers and the stats he has.
We have full confidence in someone of that class to find his strides. I think (that) he hasn't bowled badly. He has had some good performances (in) this tournament. It's all part of the game. He is one of the best in the world and no one doubts that.
Poll
Which player do you think is key for Gujarat Titans' success in IPL 2025?
Shubman Gill
Rashid Khan
Sai Sudharsan
Gerald Coetzee
Going into the IPL-2025 playoffs, the South African feels that GT have the team to win the tournament.
"We have as good a chance as anyone. I think we've played really well. We've got a really good, consistent team. And I think if we just keep playing that same brand of cricket in the play-offs, on any given day, anything can happen. But we definitely have a team that should be able to win this tournament," Coetzee said.
He didn't seem too concerned by GT suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time in IPL-2025, losing their last two league matches at home in Ahmedabad to Lucknow Super Giants and then Chennai Super Kings, asserting that his team had a "blueprint to win games."
"No, I don't think it'll be a challenge. I think we have our blueprint. We know what we have done to win games. I know we know what we did wrong when we didn't win these games, and we also have to give credit where other teams played well.
We also have to look at where we made some mistakes, and you just take that into the next game. We have played against all these teams we are about to play against. We know what they're going to bring.
I think our chances are very good of kicking on till the final, hopefully winning this tournament," Coetzee stressed.
He was confident that with plenty of experienced campaigners in their side, the Gujarat Titans would be able to deliver under pressure in the knockout stage of the IPL this year. "We are very confident. The reason we come to this tournament is to win. And I think most athletes enjoy playing under pressure.
So, we've got World Cup winners in our team. We've got guys who have done well under pressure through their career. We're very excited for the opportunity.
We understand the difficulty of what we want to achieve, but it's not daunting. We're excited for the opportunity," Coetzee said.
Who's that IPL player?
He pointed out that the Gujarat Titans qualified for the play-offs as they are strong in all the departments. "The strength is the players and the coaching staff. I think we just have been consistent. We have a well-balanced side. And we play well together as a team. I think everyone chips in. We obviously have had some great contributions. Whenever you have players in contention for purple cap, orange cap, I mean, that is gold.
And then when you have other guys playing cameos, helping to win games, I think that's a great combination for a winning team," he concluded.
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