I am really looking forward to meeting Kohli, having a chat with him: Shubman Gill

It was exactly a year ago that talented young batsman Shubman Gill had made a mark with his bat in the Under19 World Cup in New Zealand. The 19-year-old is back in the same country, thanks to the plan that fate had for him. The in-form batsman from Punjab got his opportunity to get closer to an international debut after Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul met with controversy and landed outside the Indian squad.

The other replacement for the suspended duo, Vijay Shankar, has already made his international debut in the recent ODI series against Australia and now it is to be seen whether Shubman makes his in the five-match ODI series starting in Napier on Wednesday. Shubman, who averages above 77 in just nine first-class games and is in great touch in this year’s Ranji Trophy (he hit his career-best 268 against Tamil Nadu just a few matches back), admitted that he is looking forward to learn from Indian captain Virat Kohli.

Shubman came to prominence after his stellar performance in the U19 World Cup last year and even made his Indian Premier League debut last year for Kolkata Knight Riders. Recently, he toured New Zealand with the India ‘A’ side and his impressive performance saw him getting picked for the national squad. It’s just over a year that Shubman made his first-class debut.

Shubman is in a great touch of late

Shubman, who hit 91, 69 not out, 148 and 268 in his last few innings in first-class games, averages 47.78 in 36 List ‘A’ games and also has a big strike rate of 146-plus in T20s which shows that he is capable of adjusting to all formats. Chief selector MSK Prasad said recently that Shubman is one who can play at all positions – be it opening or down the order.

Speaking about his eagerness to learn from Kohli, Shubman told www.kkr.in, “I am really looking forward to meeting him [Kohli], having a chat with him, and closely looking at the way he practices for games. I think because of him, a lot of trends have changed in Team India. Fitness levels have changed for most players, and India is one of the best fielding sides in the world right now.”

“All these things are very important. When your role is purely of a batsman or a bowler, it’s possible that two out of five games, you could fail to impress. So you need to find other ways to contribute to your team. These are really important aspects of cricket.”
India arrived in New Zealand after defeating Australia 2-1 in Test and ODI series.

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