Shubman Gill earned a well-deserved Player of the Series award thanks to his record equaling 360 runs in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against New Zealand where he scored 208, 40*, and 112 runs in three matches.
He was the 5th Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan to score a double ton in a 50-over international cricket format and then added another century, his 3rd in 4 ODIs.
India coach Rahul Dravid revealed advice that Shubman Gill’s father Lakhwinder Gill gave the young batter when he was struggling to convert starts into big scores.
“So when Shubman was scoring a lot of fifties and sixties and was batting well but not really converting them in big hundreds. His father said, ‘Shubman are you only going to show us drizzles or you are actually going to show us some rain and some thunderstorms.’ I think his father will be glad that over the last month he has really made it rain,” Rahul Dravid revealed during his conversation with Shubman Gill.
The youngster has scored three centuries in the last six ODIs but he said his father wouldn’t be happy after he got out in Indore with 22 overs left to play.
“I don’t think he will be too happy about this game because he would definitely tell me ‘I should have carried on in this game and look to have got another big score in this one,'” Shubman told Dravid.
“Hard task master your dad man. You are in good hands,” replied Dravid.
“Incredible run right from the Test hundred in Bangladesh. You have now scored three hundred in the last six games,” said Dravid.
Shubman said: “I think this is one of the formats where I really like to bat. This gives me a bit of freedom, especially in the start to able to get used to the wicket and then just express myself.”
Gill also said he was not sure whether he would open in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati as Ishan Kishan has scored a double hundred in the last match.
“In the first ODI against Sri Lanka, I was not sure whether I would be playing because Ishan has just scored a double hundred, but the confidence that you, Rohit bhai and everyone showed in me, it gave me a lot of boosts as well,” he said.
Rahul Dravid then lauded Shubman Gill for his attention to slip-catching and eagerness to get the best of himself by requesting more slip-catching practice.
He said: “The way you have been coming to us to take more and more slip catches. To field the way you have fielded and the way you’ve taken those catches, it tells me that something is clicking and you are looking to get the best out of yourself and I think for me that’s been a remarkable change in your over the last six to eight months.”
In Test cricket, Rahul Dravid holds the record for the most number of catches (210) taken by a non-wicketkeeper.
The India coach also highlighted the growth of Shubman Gill, as he has seen him from U19 ways as Dravid was the coach of the India U19 team which won the youth World Cup in 2018 when Gill was part of that team.
Dravid said, “I just think it’s your hunger and your maturity that I have seen and it’s noticeable in very small things. Obviously, you always loved to bat from the time I have seen you from the time you were a kid. You always liked batting and scoring runs. As a coach, I always look to see the hunger in young kids and the desire to improve and get better.”
Speaking about his maturity as a cricketer and how he wants the young batter to utilise it, Dravid said, “You have always been an exceptional talent and you always have maturity above your age. I think anyone who has seen you will say that there’s always been that maturity, but what we are sensing now is hunger and long may that continue and understanding of your game as well because as you play more and more, you are figuring out your game, your shots and to construct these innings. I think for me that’s been a huge difference over the last six months.”
(BCCI inputs)
