3 teams have been eliminated from the playoff race of IPL 2024. Mumbai Indians are the first, Punjab Kings are the second and Gujarat Titans are the third teams whose dream of lifting the IPL trophy this year has been shattered.

Gujarat Titans made their IPL debut in the year 2022 and they lifted the IPL trophy in the same year. After this, they reached the finals in IPL 2023 but the team remained runner up after losing to CSK. For both these years, the captaincy of the team was in the hands of Hardik Pandya.

However, Gujarat traded its captain Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians at the beginning of this season, due to which the captaincy position became vacant. After that the team management decided to make young opening batsman Shubman Gill the captain.

The legacy left by Hardik was handed over to Shubman Gill and the fans as well as the team hoped that Gujarat would go to the playoffs. But this season the team’s performance was very poor. This team has played 13 matches so far in IPL 2024, out of which the team won 5 and lost 7. The match against KKR was canceled and the team’s dream of going to the playoffs was shattered.

Was the decision to give captaincy to Shubman Gill wrong?

Now questions are being raised that the decision to make Shubman Gill the captain despite experienced players like Kane Williamson and Rashid Khan was wrong. Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden has supported Gujarat Titans’ move to hand over the captaincy to Shubman Gill despite their inability to reach the playoffs in IPL 2024.

“We have all forgotten what a young player he is. He is still a child of the next generation, so he needs time to learn leadership. He will learn everything gradually. I think he’s a leader, whether he likes it or not. He is a quiet leader. If he can put all those things together and play, I’m sure he has a bright future.”