Shubman Gill’s journey has been one of the most inspiring stories in Indian cricket. A former U-19 World Cup winner, he was mentored by Rahul Dravid and consistently supported by seniors like Virat Kohli
and Rohit Sharma. With the legends stepping back, Gill now leads in Tests and is seen as a future captain across formats.
Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar recently recalled an incident that had left the likes of Kohli, Dhoni and ex-head coach Ravin Shastri in awe of the young batter from Punjab. Gill was poised to make his ODI debut against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2019, and in the pre-match nets, his striking ability drew praise from then captain Virat Kohli.
“I saw him bat in the nets and I was like, wow, I was not even ten per cent of that when I was 19,” Kohli had said.
Bangar, who was the batting coach back then, echoed Kohli’s sentiments.
“It was his first session and he walked out to bat in the nets. Ravi Shastri was the head coach, the captain was Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni was still in the team. We were preparing for the 2019 ODI World Cup,” Bangar said on Doordarshan Sports.
“The side-arm throwers and I started to bowl at Shubman. When we pitched it up, he would play the drive.
“Thoda sa off-stump ke bahar hai toh cut maare. Thoda sa short de do toh pull maare. Dusra net band ho gaya, inka hi net chal raha and sab dekh rahe hai ki ye kya hai. (If the ball was a little outside off-stump, he cut it. If it was slightly short, he pulled it. The other nets stopped; only his net was going on, and everyone was watching in amazement — wondering what this was.)”
Bangar also explained how hyped coach Shastri was, saying he wanted Gill straight into the playing XI.
“Coach Ravi Shastri was so impressed that he wanted to put him in the playing XI. ‘Isko abhi khila do’ (Play him now). He left that kind of imprint in his first net session itself, and we realised then that this boy was special,” he added.
Gill is set to feature in India’s Asia Cup campaign, starting September 10 against UAE in Dubai.
