Shubman Gill’s father reveals Gill’s cricket practice, says ‘made him play 1500 short balls every day’

Shubman Gill’s father reveals Gill’s cricket practice, says ‘made him play 1500 short balls every day’
Shubman Gill celebrating his half-century.

Shubman Gill has booked his opening slot for India in the Test after his back-to-back impeccable innings during the Test series against Australia. Debuting in the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne, he concluded his maiden series scoring 259 runs in three matches at an average of 51.80.

His lion-hearted 91-run-knock in the fourth and the final Test to breach Australia’s fortress at the Gabba made him the cynosure of all eyes.

He garnered all the more attention when he was dealing with the incessant short bowling of the Australian pacers with ease in Brisbane. He overpowered Mitchell Starc, took 20 runs off one over – pulling, hooking, cutting, punching off the backfoot with all confidence.

Father Lakhwinder Singh was Gill’s first coach

Deliberating on the same, Gill’s father Lakhwinder Singh, supposedly Gill’s first coach, spoke of his cricket practice in his early days. “Shubman was interested in the sport since a very young age. Even when he was a kid, his favourite toy was a plastic bat. Seeing his interest in the game, I decided to train him myself,” Lakhwinder told TOI.

The Gills hail from Chak Khere Wala, a small village in Punjab’s Fazilka district. “Our village is about 300 kilometers away from Mohali. But due to the lack of facilities there we brought him here (in Mohali). We shifted to Mohali thinking it would give him access to better facilities and opportunities will open up for him,” recollects Lakhwinder.

Young Shubman was enrolled at the Mohali Cricket Academy where his father too contributed to Gill’s training. He tried to train Gill against fast bowling and short balls specifically.

“Since he was nine, I made him play 1500 short balls every day. To make him adept at handling fast bowling, I used to throw the ball over a manji (charpoy). The ball tends to travel faster after skidding off the charpoy. Besides that, he practiced with a single stump as his bat. That helped Shubman in finding the middle of the bat more often than not,” he said.

“Then a lot of time was spent practicing on matting pitches. The extra bounce that matting provides forces you to get in line and try to achieve the correct position. Batsmen who have played on matting pitches develop the ability to play on the backfoot, which is so essential for any higher level of cricket.”

“Since he was in his early teens, Shubman faced Punjab’s leading fast bowlers like Manpreet (Gony) paaji, Harmeet Singh Bansal at the MCA nets. That also played a role in his development.”

No doubt, Gill has mastered the art of shot balling via his intense practice who dominated Australia’s speedsters. 

Also read: India vs Australia: Assessing top Indian performers in the Border-Gavaskar 2020-21 series