Shubman Gill recently led India to 2-2 draw on the Test tour of England.
In what was his maiden assignment as Test skipper, Gill led the team from the front, amassing 754 runs in 10 innings, including four hundreds. His stunning exploits helped India level the series 2-2.
After the blockbuster England series, there was a growing consensus over wanting Gill's return to the shortest format. As it turned out, the selectors didn’t only name him in India’s T20 squad for the Asia Cup 2025 but also appointed him as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy.
Recently, former India head coach Rahul Dravid opened up on the early hype surrounding Shubman Gill even before the youngster was part of the Under-19 system.
"Shubman Gill was the obvious one, along with Prithvi Shaw. Many people discovered Shubman Gill. Because everywhere I went, all I heard was Shubman Gill, whoa, this player Shubman Gill. And it's true, when you come through this Indian system, where you are a special player like Vaibhav [Suryavanshi] or [Ayush] Mhatre, they have been through so many coaches, scouts. Before I actually saw Shubman Gill, about six people had told me there's this kid called Shubman Gill, and that he's a very good player and things like that," Dravid told R Ashwin on the former India spinner's YouTube show 'Kutti Stories'.
Shubman was the stand-out performer in India’s Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2018, when Dravid was serving the junior side as coach. Under Dravid’s guidance, the Indian Under-19 team also reached the final of the 2016 World Cup.
There were so many talented payers featuring in both squads that Dravid couldn't pick a single name that he saw blossom
"I can't say one. That would be very unfair. I think when I saw Rishabh for the first time, I knew this guy was something different. Looking back at the 2016 batch, I thought even someone like Khaleel Ahmed… still finding his way in, still not able to crack it… but when you saw him in Under-19, you thought ‘wow, this kid has some ability for a young fast bowler'," Dravid stated.
"Riyan [Parag] was in there too. When I first saw Sanju Samson at 18 years old, he looked a million bucks. And you continue to see that. So many names are not mentioned. It's not one kid that makes you go 'Wow', actually it's just the talent coming through the Indian system that makes you go 'Wow'. Even now, when you are at IPL trials and see new kids coming through, it's just incredible to see where all this talent is coming from," he further remarked.