There has been a lot of talking about the next big thing in cricket and probably India’s next superstars. Yes, we’re talking about Shubhman Gill. India’s new batting sensation. He has managed to impress all the cricket pundits, ever since he made his debut for India. Who is this young lad? Where does he come from? Is he worth the hype? Let’s take a look at this young prodigy.

 

Shubman Gill was born on 8 September 1999. He is an Indian international cricketer who plays for Punjab in domestic cricket and for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a right-handed batsman. He made his first-class debut for Punjab against Bengal in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, in late 2017, with a half-century in the game, and 129 runs in the next match against Services. He made his international debut for the India cricket team in January 2019. He was selected in India’s Under-19 side as the vice-captain for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Shubman scored 372 runs at an average of 124.00 at the 2018 ICC U-19 World Cup, where he batted at number three to play a crucial role in India’s record fourth world title and was adjudged the edition’s Player of the Tournament. His match-winning 102 not out in the semi-final against arch-rivals Pakistan U-19 drew praises from batting greats like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V. V. S. Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly. In January 2018, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹1.8 crore (US$250,000) in the 2018 IPL auction. He made his Twenty20 debut for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 Indian Premier League on 14 April 2018. In October 2018, he was named in India C’s squad for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. In the final round-robin match, against India A, he scored an unbeaten century to help send India C through to the final. The following month, he was named as one of eight players to watch ahead of the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. In December 2018, during Punjab’s match against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, Gill scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket, scoring 268 runs. In November 2019, he became the youngest cricketer to lead a side in the tournament. He was 20 years and 57 days old, beating Virat Kohli’s record, when he was 21 years 124 days old, during the 2009–10 FC tournament.

 

He was named in India’s Test squad for their series against South Africa, but he did not play. In December 2019, Gill was named as the captain of India A squad for their tour of New Zealand. In February 2020, he was again named in India’s Test squad, this time for their series against New Zealand. Gill made his Test debut for India on 26 December 2020, against Australia and is now playing his second Test. At a tender age of 21, Gill already has a lot of records to his name such as the youngest cricketer to lead a side in the Deodhar Trophy,
Leading scorer for Punjab in 2018-19 Ranji Trophy (728), Leading run-scorer for India in 2018 U-19 WC (372) and the youngest batsman for an Indian team to score a double century in a first-class match vs West Indies A. Thus Gill is one player to watch out for and is a sure shot legend in the making.

By Arvind Krishnan

Cricket writer, statistician and analyst. An unorthodox media student, marketing runs in his blood. Sports Marketer and analyst.