India U19 cricket star Shubman Gill expresses desire to play FC cricket

India U19 batsman Shubman Gill who put up a brilliant display with the willow in his side’s recent tour to England has now expressed his desire to play domestic cricket. Batting at number three, the youngster stacked up 278 runs from four games, which included a stunning 147. Such was his dominance in the tour that India’s next highest scorer, ODI captain Prithvi Shaw, could muster only 160 runs.

With the extremely fruitful England tour coming to an end, the youngster has now set his sights on the upcoming Ranji Trophy. The 17-year-old played in the List A matches last year, and revealed, “Playing the Ranji Trophy for Punjab is my dream.” The Ferozepur born cricketer, however, will not be able to render his full services to the state team owing to national duties. The U19 squad will need him back at the top of the order when the Asia Cup begins in Kuala Lumpur in November. The tournament will be an ideal preparatory ground for the U19 World Cup in New Zealand.

Shubman was an integral cog in India’s victory against the Three Lions

Speaking about his future ambitions, the Punjab lad disclosed, “More than the first-class format, I like playing List A matches. I have not played a single first-class match at the top level as I have made only my List A debut so far. Maybe, this time I will get a chance to play in the Ranji Trophy and I hope I get to know how it feels to play first-class cricket.”

There’s something about England that brings out the best in Shubman. The way he strung together a series of match-winning knocks was instrumental in the team’s completing a historic whitewash, decimating England 2-0 in Tests and then proceeding to clinch the one-day series 5-0. He had a dream series in England amassing 351 runs from 4 innings and was also awarded the Man of the Series.

With a performance like this, the cricketer has set the benchmark for himself really high. Despite his heroics, the youngster is yet to make his first-class debut and wants to make a mark in the domestic circuit first if given a chance.