"No team would think of it as a problem" - Shubman Gill on star cricketer's batting position for GT in IPL 2025

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill has said that the batting position of English talisman Jos Buttler is not a matter of concern for the franchise. He also added that no clear decision has been made on where Buttler would bat for the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions in the upcoming season.

The 34-year-old former T20 World Cup-winning captain was not retained by the Rajasthan Royals, with whom he enjoyed a successful seven-year stint between 2018 and 2024. Buttler was bought by the Titans for ₹15.75 crore at the mega auction in November 2024.

“If you have someone like him (Buttler) in your team, no team would think of it as a problem. We have all seen what he has done in T20 cricket for England and in the IPL, and in the previous series, he batted at No.3, so I don’t think there is any problem with him batting at different numbers,” Gill said on the eve of GT's season opener against Punjab Kings via Sportstar.

Shubman Gill also pointed out that Buttler has batted at different numbers over 8-9 years and delivered for the side.

“We haven’t decided at which number he will bat, maybe we will get to know about it tomorrow during the match, but over the course of 8-9 years that he has played IPL, he has played at different numbers and he has performed. So, I don’t see that as a problem for us,” he added.

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Shubman Gill happy with GT squad for IPL 2025, stresses on need to have a strong bowling side

The 25-year-old batter has expressed happiness at the squad assembled for the upcoming season and feels that they have covered all the bases.

“We have covered all the bases, we have good depth in the batting, we have some very good fast bowlers. The IPL is a kind of a tournament where everybody focuses on scoring 250, 260, 270, but it’s the bowlers that win you matches, it’s the bowlers that help you not concede those many runs," Shubman Gill said.

“It doesn’t matter how many runs you score, if you concede those. Our philosophy is to have a really strong and stable bowling side. Hopefully, we are hoping that we will be able to play the same bowling attack for the 14 games, but if anything happens we have a good backup as well,” he added.

Shubman Gill was appointed GT captain in 2023 after Hardik Pandya was traded to the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the 2024 auction. The youngster has won five and lost seven out of 12 matches as Gujarat's skipper last season.