Things are happening fast for Shubman Gill. The Under-19 batsman from Punjab scored a century for India in the semi-final of the U-19 World Cup against Pakistan on Tuesday. Over the weekend, he bagged an Indian Premier League contract for Rs 1.8 crore with Kolkata Knight Riders.
India have coasted to the final of the World Cup on the basis of brilliant individual performances not just from Gill, but others too, including the captain Prithvi Shaw and fast bowlers Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti to name a few. But Gill's showing stands out the most, considering that his lowest score in five matches is 63. His batting average at the end of the second semi-final stands at 170.
Born in Fazilka, Punjab, as a boy Gill moved from his hometown to Mohali to further his cricket. His father Lakhwinder Singh spoke about his son’s passion for cricket at a young age.
“Shubhman never liked any other toy. He always loved playing with the bat and ball. He used to play with the cricket bat and ball even during going to bed,” Lakhwinder told PTI on Tuesday.
“We fully supported him for achieving his dream to become a cricketer. We dedicated 15 years on him to enable him to become a world-class cricketer. We even left our work and skipped several family functions including marriage ceremonies of our relatives so we could dedicate as much time as we could on him.”
The right-handed batsman has already played two Ranji games for his home State, scoring a century in one of them. He is currently Shaw’s deputy at the U-19 World Cup.
Gill scored an unbeaten double-century in his U-16 debut for Punjab in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. He also won the best junior cricketer at the BCCI awards for two years in succession. He won the Man of the Series prize in the U-19 ODIs against England, smashing 147 in a one-day match in Sussex.
Gill began the U-19 World Cup with 63 off 54 balls against Australia and followed it up with an unbeaten 90 off just 59 balls against Zimbabwe. In the quarter-final against Bangladesh, he scored 86. This was shortly before the IPL auction. He told ESPNcricinfo about how he nervously followed the live stream of the bidding, past 11 p.m in Christchurch.
Now with the crore contract in the bag, Gill finally scored the century that eluded him. One final challenge remains in New Zealand – in the final against Australia.
