Jason Holder hails Shubman Gill's "lead by example" captaincy at Gujarat Titans

Holder was speaking to ANI following his team's loss to the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday. Placed at sixth spot with three wins and three losses so far, GT has had a mixed bag campaign so far, with an inconsistent middle-order as something to fix. A fine top-three of Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler and a solid pace unit consisting of Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada and Rajasthan pacer Ashok Sharma are two massive positives for the Titans.

Though Gill failed to fire against MI, it was his trio of successive fifties which got GT's campaign back on track after it started with two losses. He has scored 265 runs in five matches at an average of 53.00 and a strike rate of 151.42, including three fifties and a best score of 86. He is the team's leading run-getter and overall second-highest, just 19 runs away from Orange Cap holder Heinrich Klaasen of Sunrisers Hyderabad (283 runs with three fifties).

Speaking to ANI about Gill's captaincy, Holder said that the way Gill goes about his business makes him a "dominant force".

"I think Shubman leads by example. When you look at his performances, you know, he is our leader batter. I think he has got the second most runs now in the competition. And just the way he goes about his business, he is the dominant force, and I think that exudes into the team, and the team is able to pick up on that energy. Seeing him leading by example, we have no choice but to try to fall in line," he said.

Holder is yet to receive a game for GT this season, but is enjoying his time with the franchise, saying that Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium, where the team played in the recent T20 World Cup, and his familiarity with Indian conditions make this environment an extremely familiar place where he has been welcomed with open arms.

"I have been enjoying the experience. They have basically welcomed me with both arms, and it has been a very warm feeling. I have thoroughly enjoyed Ahmedabad. I have been here obviously a few times, played a game in the World Cup here, played some international fixtures here against India. So like, it is not a strange place to me personally. So it's like coming back to familiar territory," he said.

"And yeah, I think the experience so far in the camp has been a decent one. Yeah, I think when you look at the performances, I think we have shown some spark, but we have obviously let ourselves down at certain phases of the competition. But you know, we are still well in this competition. It is still early days. We have got so many more matches ahead of us to play, and we are all looking forward to it," he added.

The team features some quality all-round talent, including India's all-format player Washington Sundar, uncapped players Nishant Sandhu, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, among other Indian names. Holder said that he has had conversations with Shahrukh and Washington, and the whole group of all-rounders "bounce ideas off one another". The time spent with the group of Indian all-rounders has been a "learning curve" for him, and he offers the advantage of extra input to his team through his massive experience as an international cricketer.

"I try to insert myself when I think it is the right time (conversations with all-rounders). There are so many different views, there is so many different people who have an impact on players' development. And, you know, for me, I know when I was a lot younger, you know, you had your support system, everybody has their support system, a background where they have come from and a place where they kind of go back to if things are not really working," he said.

"So, like, I am sure all of these players you just call have people around them who they know and trust. And then obviously there is a massive contingent here in GT with a strong support system. They have got their systems in place. For me now, it is just adding that little bit more that I can add if I observe something. I have had, like, really good chats with Washi. I have had really good chats with Shahrukh," he added.

He further stated, "And, yeah, we bounce ideas off one another. Because for me, it is still a learning curve. It is not like I know everything. Yes, I might be a little bit more experienced, but I can pick up things from them and see how they go about their business and share ideas with them. And we bounce ideas off one another. I think that is the beautiful thing about IPL."

"It is not to say, like, I will be telling them what to do, or they are telling me what to do, but we share a lot, and we try to understand a little bit more about ourselves, and then maybe tweak one or two things that we could potentially tweak in a tournament such as this one," he concluded his point.

The veteran all-rounder has also been left impressed with the promise of Rajasthan pacer Ashok Sharma, who has consistently touched the late 140s-early 150 mark while bowling. He ended as the joint-highest wicket-taker in last year's Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) competition, with 22 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 15.63 and two four-fers, attracting IPL's attention and eventually going to GT at a price of Rs 90 lakh.

So far in the tournament, Ashok has delivered some glimpses of brilliance, taking six wickets in six matches at an average of 38.00 and an economy rate of 10.85, with best figures of 2/32. Jason, a pace bowling all-rounder himself, has taken quite a liking to Ashok's pace, variations and hunger, pointing out that he has it in him to become a solid asset in the pace department for India.

"For me, I think sometimes the stats do not really do justice to a player's performance (Ashok's performances), particularly in these tough conditions. I think one of the things that really stood out for me about Ashok is his pace, but not only his pace, his skill. So, I think he has got wonderful attributes to become a pretty good fast bowler for India. You know, it is just about how much he wants it and how hungry he is or how willing he is to put the work in," he said.

"And what I have seen about him so far, he is definitely a worker. He definitely wants to get better. I am very, very impressed with him. For me, my role, I guess, around him is helping him to understand when to bowl certain deliveries, because he has got a lot of deliveries. He has got skills. So, it is just about putting the overs together," he added.

At the age of 34, Holder continues to feature in T20 leagues across the world and is a valuable part of the West Indies' T20I team. Ending up as the leading T20 wicket-taker in 2025 with 90 scalps, he carried this momentum in WI's promising Super Eight run in the T20 World Cup co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. During the tournament, he scored 141 runs in five innings at an average of 35.25, with a strike rate of over 174 and best score of 49 and took 10 wickets in seven matches at an average of 20.40, including a four-wicket haul against Nepal and a solid spell of 2/38 against India during the virtual quarterfinal at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, where they lost.

Holder feels that the team exceeded their expectations with a sixth-place finish, but still "let themselves down" and need to carry on with the positive momentum built after a solid showing. From a personal point of view, he feels "most settled he has ever been" in this format, having not played Tests and ODIs in a long while.

"I think, when you look at our performance in the World Cup, a lot would say that we had a pretty good World Cup, probably exceeded a few expectations. But, you know, I think we exceeded expectations, but we still let ourselves down in a sense. But I was really, really happy with the overall attitude and the overall showing for the team in the World Cup. You know, I think the most important thing for us is to build on that, you know, keep building on that," he said.

"So, I think each and every player within the international team just needs to understand that we have started something, we have built a pretty good foundation, but how can we continue to build on that? And then, with my personal form, look, it is just for me a case where I am a lot more settled into this format now. It is pretty much the only format I have been playing in the last year and a half or so. So, if I have time to really tailor my game towards this T20 cricket, yeah, just a lot more settled, probably the most settled I've ever been in my T20 cricket. And yeah, just enjoying the game as it comes," he signed off.

- ANI