Washington Sundar Exclusive: India all-rounder makes bold prediction on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, backs Shubman Gill

Team India and Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Washington Sundar heaped praise on Shubman Gill's leadership qualities in an exclusive conversation with Firstpost, praising his captain for providing "utmost clarity" about his role as a player. Sundar has also made a big prediction about teen prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi amid his unprecedented surge in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Gujarat Titans have delivered a mixed performance, securing two wins and two losses in the four matches they have played. While GT did not have a solid start, they could bounce back into playoff contention as the season progresses.

Despite the results, Shubman Gill's leadership and Ashish Nehra's coaching have created the impression of being unique, calm and impactful, even if consistency has been lacking. 

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Sundar lauds Shubman Gill’s captaincy skills

In an exclusive interaction with Firstpost's Rupha Ramani, Washington Sundar spoke about Gill's exceptional leadership qualities, underlining the calmness and clarity he brings by setting precise expectations for players to help them focus on their specific roles. The Indian all-rounder also highlighted Gill's track record as skipper of Team India and GT, which generates "excitement" among the squad members and makes it a motivating experience for them.

"It's been great, and one thing about him is that he gives you utmost clarity as to what exactly is expected out of you and helps you understand what's required out of you in that particular situation. That way, you know it's really calming, and you have that clarity as to, ' Okay, this is exactly what I need to do,' and let me just focus on this. He's done extremely well for India, obviously, and he's done extremely well for GT as well. So I think there's so much excitement going into every game playing under him," Washington Sundar said.

Sundar's big prediction on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Watching the teenage tearaway, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, setting the IPL on fire with his outrageous batting skills has been a privilege for the fans and analysts. Washington Sundar shares the same feeling and has predicted a massive future for the 15-year-old, saying that he will be part of the Indian cricket fold for a very long time.

"He's extremely special, and he's going to be obviously playing for India for a very long time. Just the maturity that he plays with going into every single innings sort of amazes a lot of us, and obviously, he's someone who gets big hundreds also, and that speaks a lot about his character," the Indian all-rounder added.

The IPL 2026 action continues with GT facing KKR at home on Friday, April 17. Sooryavanshi's Rajasthan Royals will also face the Kolkata Knight Riders in their next fixture on Sunday, 19th April at the Eden Gardens.