CHENNAI: Way before the schedule of the 17th season of the Indian Premier League was announced, the one contest fans were looking forward to the match-up between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans.
Not just because of the quality of cricket these two teams have shown but also for the personnel changes behind the scenes. Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy of the five-time champions, Mumbai Indians from India's all-format leader Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill got the nod to lead the Titans after his most successful season with the bat.
With the stage set for the battle, Pandya won the toss and opted to field first on the tricky pitch expecting assistance from Dew later and took on himself to bowl first the first over.
Considering this was his return to action at this level since the ankle injury he suffered in the ODI World Cup, he struggled in the beginning and gave away 27 runs in the first three overs. Many eyebrows were raised when Pandya took it upon himself to start the bowling despite having Jasprit Bumrah available to bowl. Pandya corrected the course when he handed the ball to Bumrah, who provided the much-needed breakthrough for the side.
Knowing how much Gill has troubled Mumbai in the past with his exceptional strike rate of 151, it was wise of Pandya to bring veteran Piyush Chawla into the mix. He did provide a breakthrough and it played well in the hands of Mumbai as Pandya could use South Africa's Gerald Coetzee, known to take wickets in the middle overs.
Having someone like Bumrah with slower deliveries up his sleeves made Pandya's job as a captain easy. And the local lad didn't disappoint with the wickets of high-hitting David Miller and B Sai Sudharsan, who primarily played the role of anchor.
Pandya's captaincy, other than probably handing Luke Wood the 18th over showcased the fact that how acutely aware he is of the conditions at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Mumbai would have been happy to restrict Gujarat to 168 at the ground where three out of the last four first innings in IPL saw 200+ runs being scored.
This being his first-ever leadership opportunity in the league, that too against one of the most successful sides, it was natural to expect that Gill was under tremendous pressure. However, given how much he has grown in the short period with the bat, there were no surprises when the 24-year-old was fast-tracked to captaincy.
"He is mature beyond his age given his international experience and the talent he has," Vikram Solanki, Gujarat Titans' Director of Cricket, told the broadcasters in the first innings.
"Nobody doubts any of that. And now there is that added responsibility of captaincy. Hopefully, he will grow with this added responsibility. We are looking forward to him taking over. We had a great captain last year and we look forward to seeing how Shubman develops," he added.
With this much spotlight already on him, the excessive dew made Gill's job extremely hard.
Azmatullah Omarzai, who started with a slip, gave Gujarat a brilliant start with the wicket of Ishan Kishan first and later that of Naman Dhir. However, the dew forced Gill to introduce his team's ace, Rashid Khan in the powerplay. From then on till the 13th over, whatever Gill threw at Dewald Brevis and Rohit Sharma, the duo had no problems answering it. Even Mohit Sharma, with the record of most wickets against Mumbai, was a tad unlucky not to get any wickets in his first two overs.
Despite almost everything stacked against his side, Gill along with Rashid and slower deliveries from Mohit helped Gujarat turn the match in their favour in the final four overs. The Gujarat captain trusted Spencer Johnson to bowl the penultimate over and the Australian repaid with two wickets in the over, even after getting hit for a six off the first ball. And Umesh Yadav's redeeming act took Gujarat over the line.
For now, with the shift in the balance of power in the death overs, Gill registered a win in his first-ever fixture as a captain in front of the home crowd. The Harakiri committed by Mumbai sure helped his cause, but no one can take that first win away from Captain Gill.
Brief score: 168 for 6 in 20 ovs (B Sai Sudharsan 45; Jasprit Bumrah 3/14) bt Mumbai Indians 162 for 9 in 20 ovs (Dewald Brevis 46; Azmatullah Omarzai 2/27)