Produced by: Hitansh Gaur
World Test Championship Final is underway at the Oval between India and Australia. For India, the opener was the ‘Prince of Indian Cricket’, Shubman Gill. But he failed to give India the lead as Men in Blue struggle to chase 469 runs in the first innings. The second day of the WTC Final ended with India scoring just 151 runs with a loss of 5 wickets.
Shubman Gill managed to score just 13 runs before getting bowled out by Scott Boland. Gill had opted to leave the straight-ish delivery from Boland which was pitched just outside off, but moved inwards. Shubman was left bamboozled as Boland’s delivery hit the top of off stump.
Shubman Gill was born on September 8, 1999 in the Chak Khere Wala village in Fazilka district of Punjab. Shubman was born to Lakhwinder Singh and Keart Gill.
Shubman Gill’s father Lakhwinder Singh wanted to play cricket professionally when he was young, but the lack of opportunities shattered his dreams. So, he focused on making his son the next star of Indian cricket.
Shubman started playing at the age of three and he was trained by his father. Though his father was not a professional cricketer, his training tactics have helped Shubman in reaching the new heights of cricket.
Lakhwinder Singh trained Shubman Gill on his farmland, where he used to hire help for bowling 500 to 700 deliveries every day. Shubman would play with only one stump to perfect his technique of hitting the ball from the middle of the bat.
Shubman Gill’s father also made him play on the ‘Charpoys’ for some time so that he could get used to skidding fast balls and improve his ability to face pacers.
Lakhwinder Singh decided to shift from the remote village in Fazilka to Mohali in 2007 for providing better training facilities and opportunities. Shubman Gill still takes advice from his father whenever he needs it.
Shubman Gill made his First Class cricket debut for Punjab during their match against Bengal from November 17-19, 2017. He played 72 innings in 42 matches scoring 3432 runs with the highest knock of 268 runs.
Shubman made his international debut in the One-Day match against New Zealand on January 31, 2019, at Hamilton. He managed to score only nine runs before getting caught out by Trent Boult.
Prior to the WTC Final 2023, here’s Shubman Gill’s stats for Team India: Test cricket: 890 runs in 28 innings (15 matches) ODI: 1311 runs in 24 matches T20I: 202 runs in 6 matches
Earlier this year, on January 18, 2023, Shubman Gill became the youngest player to score a double century in One-Day International format with his knock of 208 runs against New Zealand at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
Shubman Gill had a fabulous IPL season this year as he helped his team Gujarat Titans reach the final of the tournament for the second year in a row. He scored 890 runs in 17 matches including three centuries and four half-centuries. His highest score of the season was 129 against Mumbai Indians in the Qualifier 2. Shubman was also named the Most Valuable Player of IPL 2023.