Shubman Gill, who will be leading the GT franchise, expressed his excitement in leading the last year's runners-up. He said, "Feels very excited, to be able to captain at a stadium where I have a lot of fond memories. This has been one of our strengths, the last couple of seasons the support that we've got from the fans has been tremendous for us. I was here a week prior before this game, played a practice match, had a couple of practice sessions. Everyone is looking good, everyone is looking fit. We have got three players making debuts for GT - Umesh bhai, Spencer and Omarzai. There are so many players who will be making their debut later this season. There is Sushant from the U-19s, Sai Sudharsan has been doing well for us in the last couple of sessions."