India Test skipper Shubman Gill has answered a few personal questions, including revealing his unique nickname and his best friend in the team. He also said that while his cricketing ‘idol’ growing up
was Sachin Tendulkar, his current favorite cricketer is Virat Kohli.
Gill’s career is on a steep rise. Having cemented his place as the ODI vice-captain and a likely heir for Rohit Sharma last year, he was recently appointed the full-time skipper in Tests and Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy for the Asia Cup 2025 in the T20I format. According to some reports, if the BCCI were to go back to the route of one captain for all formats, Gill would be the frontrunner to take that job.
In an interview with Star Sports India, he revealed unknown personal facts.
“My nickname is ‘kaka’, which in Punjabi means baby,” Gill, who turned 26 on Monday, said. “My cricketing idol when I was growing up was Sachin (Tendulkar) Sir and my current favorite cricketer is Virat (Kohli). My best friend in the team is Ishan Kishan. One thing that I cannot live without is my family. I wear the same set of clothing that I wore in the first match throughout the series,” he added.
Gill also revealed the reason behind his jersey number 77.
“When I played the U19 World Cup, I wanted to take the number 7, but it was not available, so I took two sevens,” he said.
Asked about the battle he enjoys the most in the nets, Gill picked the one that would inarguably be the most difficult — against his fellow Punjabi and a leading pacer in the world, Jasprit Bumrah.
“One battle I enjoy the most is facing Bumrah in the nets. He is always on you and never gives you an edge. He always wants to intimidate you and show you that he is the best, and I love that about him,” he said.
Gill would be seen in action for India starting September 10 when the Men in Blue kick off their Asia Cup campaign against the UAE. India will also face Pakistan and Oman in the group, and a top-two finish will allow them to the next stage, the Super-Four.
