Chandigarh: Shubman Gill will stroll into the tunnel at the Mullanpur Stadium on Friday with the sole goal of leading the Gujarat Titans to victory in IPL 2025, wearing the captain's hat.

The 'home' crowd would surely roar their approval at the news that he was just named the India Test captain; it might even sway support toward GT despite the fact that the Mumbai Indians will be their opponents in the shootout Eliminator.

There has been a lot of talk about Gill since he took over as captain of the Indian Test team following Rohit Sharma's resignation from the format. Ever since he arrived in the playoffs, he has been pursued by fans at the neighborhood airport and in his hometown of Mohali.

In the days leading up to the Eliminator match versus MI, Gill had excellent training sessions at the PCA New Chandigarh Stadium and the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali, in addition to taking images with the supporters. It's also a significant moment for the Punjab Cricket Association to see one of their own named Test captain and then take GT to IPL victory.

"Everyone at PCA is so proud of it." This will encourage a whole generation of cricketers in the area. We hope to see him represent India and take home prizes. He has a devoted following among fans here. He has also performed admirably for GT," stated PMS Banga, Vice President of the PCA.

For Gill, it will be a trial of nerves on a field that he is familiar with. In order for GT to win a spot in the final at their franchise home in Ahmedabad, it will be advantageous for him to be able to read and adjust to the local environment.

The competition between Hardik Pandya and Gill provides even more excitement. GT would be overjoyed to pull one over their previous captain, and doing so now would be particularly enjoyable.

GT spinner Rashid Khan shared his opinions in advance of the game against MI during a promotional event in Mohali.

Khan stated, "The tournament has been a good run for us. The lengthy period of the tournament allowed us to examine areas that needed improvement. In the team, the attitude is quite positive and the level of confidence is high. The team has been consistently urged by both captain Shubman and coach Ashish Nehra to maximize their strengths in order to achieve the best outcomes. We have prior experience playing at the PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh and are somewhat familiar with the circumstances there.

Despite winning the trophy on their debut in 2022, GT have only managed to reach the playoffs three times in the previous four seasons. They will be hoping to recover from the last few games, which have been a little difficult.

As for the bowling, Khan and Mohammed Siraj will need to rediscover their magic and give GT early breakthroughs against a formidable MI batting lineup. Prasidh Krishna, who has been the GT's top bowler with 23 wickets this season, will be hoping that his form continues into the game, according to coach Nehra.

Losing Jos Buttler to national duty will certainly hurt the team, even if the in-form Sai Sudharsan and Gill would be GT's trump cards in the batting lineup. How Shahrukh Khan and Sherfane Rutherford, the middle-order hitters, perform in the decisive contest is still up in the air.

In the meanwhile, MI, which has won the IPL title five times, has also lost foreign players throughout the process. With Jonny Bairstow stepping in to fill the void, Ryan Rickelton of South Africa and Will Jacks of England have been essential for them, and their absence has a lot of negative consequences, but they have some good stuff to rely on.

Suryakumar Yadav has been outstanding for MI in the batting department, but he will hope that Rohit Sharma and the others perform at their best in the crucial match.

Although GT is a tenacious group, MI have demonstrated in the past that they are capable of winning in the playoffs, which makes the game so exciting.

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