The rise and rise of Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill has smashed a double-century and three magnificent centuries in his last seven limited-overs games, against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. (Photo: Twitter)

“Oh grief! That is a short-arm jab. And it brings up 50 for Shubman Gill. Impressive. Attractive. Effective.” - Ian Bishop, patron-saint of cricket commentators.

It is January 2018. The Under-19 men’s cricket World Cup is underway in New Zealand. India are munching away at a paltry chase against Zimbabwe when the seamer Nungu Nkosilathi runs in and bowls a non-descript, short of length ball into the hitting arc of a tall, wiry Indian batter. The ball, and the shot played to it, is thankfully preserved for posterity on YouTube, for what ensues is magic.

Shubman Gill moves back and across, half a step forward to get into the line of the ball, and swishes the bat at lightning speed, in an arc starting at third man and ending, decisively, abruptly and dare I say, disdainfully, just above shoulder-height, pointing towards midwicket. In the course of this arc, the bat has made sweet contact with the ball, and sent it zooming away for a flat, long six, deep into the grassbanks at the Bay Oval.

At the under-19 level, cricketers are far from the finished product. Heck, at that age, no one is a finished product even as a person. These adolescent, wispy-mustached kids are still discovering their own personalities, still putting on muscle and confidence, and are yet to fully realise their own strengths.

Not Shubman Gill, though. There is an air of certainty and calmness about this lad. Even watching him go about his business on television, you can see that he’s head and shoulders above his peer group - and not just in height. You can sense the assurance from that single shot - it was six from the moment the bowler released the ball.

There has always been a sense of inevitability to Gill’s progress. Even before that World Cup, he had been scoring heavily at every age-group level, often a couple of years ahead of turn. He had won the BCCI Junior Cricketer award twice in two years, in 2013 and 2014. Rahul Dravid, as the junior coach in the late 2010s, had earmarked Gill for greatness long before the world took note. Gill has sealed his ascension to the big league at that World Cup, with a memorable 100 against Pakistan and three 50s as part of Prithvi Shaw’s tournament-winning side.

Also read: Gill hits maiden T20I ton as India beat New Zealand with biggest run margin in shortest format

He auditioned for ODIs, but was quickly consigned back to the bench as India went with established hands for the 2019 World Cup. He then got his Test debut in the toughest of circumstances, opening for India in the 2020 Melbourne Test, fresh from their 36-for-9 humiliation in Adelaide. The Melbourne match is rightly remembered for Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliance, and that tour is rightly remembered for Rishabh Pant, R. Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj and Cheteshwar Pujara. But at the top of the order, ahead of them all, was Gill - fronting up to Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood armed with the shiny red Kookaburra. Eighty runs across two innings at Melbourne, a fluent maiden 50 in Sydney, and then an eye-popping 91 on the unforgettable final day at the Gabba, where India’s third XI pulled off a miracle.

On that day, Gill walked on water - Pant would later win the day with his daredevilry completing the chase, but objectively, Gill played the better innings. Starc swung the new ball, Lyon had a rough patch to work with against the right hander, and Cummins bowled short all day with pace and purpose - Cheteshwar Pujara famously wore a few on his midriff. Gill stood tall, languid and unfazed through it all. He drove, pulled, cut and carved up the Australian attack, and his upper cut off Starc that flew behind point for six is now a part of folklore.

Gill’s batting is built on sound principles and minimalism. His front foot push isn’t extravagant, which allows him to rock back easily and play the pull shot. Getting on top of the bounce is easy for a batter so tall. He executes the pull with a strong base, a solid core, and jabs with fast hands. One could argue that after Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Gill is the most complete player of the pull to play for India. Since his front foot push isn’t big, Gill uses his wrists a lot, and drives well on the up. But it also leaves him a little vulnerable to balls that attack his stumps.

In the couple of years following that Australia tour, Gill did have his share of cheap dismissals - he was getting bowled and lbw a bit more often than he’d have liked. That, allied with the rise of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul meant Gill rightly lost his spot in the team. In Bangladesh late last year, Rohit’s absence opened up another opportunity at the top, and Gill responded with a maiden Test ton.

Since then, he’s been unstoppable. Gill has smashed a double-century and three magnificent centuries in his last seven limited-overs games, against Sri Lanka and New Zealand. During these knocks, he’s unleashed a new dimension to his batting - an ability to tee off down the ground for big sixes against fast bowlers. From being on the fringes of the Test side, Gill is now more or less certain to play in the Australia Tests, in place of the injured Shreyas Iyer. What’s more - he’s India’s biggest form player in ODI cricket, and will rightfully open at the World Cup this year.

Looking back, it’s a surprise that Gill took this long to cement his spot in the Indian side, across formats. It’s a break from his own habit through the years, of bossing age-group levels ahead of time. Just as well, though - the extra time seems to have helped him unlock new dimensions to his batting, and the Gill of 2023 looks even more complete than the kid who opened in Melbourne three years back.

And it’s also just as well that he has lost the Test opening spot. Many people believe that Gill is destined to bat at No. 4- the slot reserved for legends: Sachin Tendulkar. Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill.