India's T20I vice-captain Shubman Gill took out time from a training session and interacted with Hong Kong cricketers, addressing their queries regarding batting. The moment was caught on camera, and Gill's wonderful gesture has since received a lot of love from the fans worldwide.
In a viral clip shared by the Hong Kong team's official social media handle, Shubman could be seen explaining the technique to become a better batter against short-pitched bowling. The Punjab batter urged the Hong Kong batters
to take part in as many training sessions as they can to practice playing short deliveries. Gill said that as they increase the amount of practice, playing short balls will become muscle memory, and the batters will not have to make too many decisions by themselves.
"Practice a lot, as you practice, you don't have to think too much about it. You don't think about playing the drive. The ball comes, and you are ready to play it. While playing short balls, your eyes understand as you have practised facing short balls one lakh, 10 lakh times, and played the same shot. Let the body take over. The more you think, the worse it will become. Think as little as possible. We keep saying about good batting and being in the zone. What is that zone? It is when a batter is thinking less and is just reacting to the ball coming in," Gill said when asked by the Hong Kong players about how to improve batting against short balls.
The Indian Test captain also revealed that he played a lot with plastic balls early on in his career. These tips will surely help the Hong Kong players as they use the 2025 Asia Cup as an opportunity to hone their skills.
Gill scored an unbeaten 20 off just nine balls in India's opening game of the Asia Cup against the UAE. He will have a key role to play in the high-voltage fixture against Pakistan on Sunday, September 14, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
