Shubman Gill has not had it easy this week after being out of India’s playing XI against the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fourth Test, the star batter now finds himself on the cusp of losing his captaincy at Gujarat Titans for the Indian Premier League (IPL) season of 2025. Although he has not officially been dropped, the news comes following a very mysterious tweet from Titans.
Shubman Gill Was Named The Captain After Pandya’s Exit
Gill was named the new captain of the Gujarat Titans upon Hardik Pandya’s sensational return to Mumbai Indians in December 2023. Under the dynamic young skipper, Gujarat started rebuilding with visions for the future. However, the 2021 champions saw a disastrous outing as they landed eighth on the table with mere five wins out of 14 matches.
Cryptic Tweet By Gujarat Titans
The Gujarat Titans’ post on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday ignited rumors of a leadership change. The post read: “A clean slate. A new story.” the caption was accompanied with an image of Rashid Khan gazing at a blank slate.
This subtle hint has led many to believe the franchise may be planning to name Rashid Khan as their new skipper for IPL 2025.
A clean slate. A new story. ✨#AavaDe pic.twitter.com/fNt319mJlP
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) January 1, 2025
Rashid Khan To Be The Next Skipper Of GT?
If Gujarat Titans want to replace Gill, they have in Rashid Khan but he has limited captaincy experience. Though he has captained Gujarat only twice in IPL—once against Chennai Super Kings in 2022, which his side won; and once against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023, which his side lost with an exciting last-over performance from Rinku Singh—he has a massive leadership experience in T20 cricket.
Rashid has led 67 T20 matches across six teams, including the Afghanistan national side and achieved 34 wins. He is also in charge of Afghanistan national sides for ODI and Test cricket, which explains why he is a high-profile applicant for the Gujarat captaincy in IPL 2025.
Whether Gujarat Titans will start a new story with Rashid at the helm is something to be known as the coming weeks unfold.
