India batter and new Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill met and clicked a photo with a guard at the Ranchi Airport. That particular guard was Francis Minz, father of Jharkhand cricketer and GT’s new recruit Robin Minz.
India recently played the fourth Test of the five-match series against England in Ranchi’s JSCA Stadium. Shubman Gill, who played a brilliant knock of 52* in the tough chase of 192 runs, took time out to meet and greet the retired Army man, who has been working as a security official at the airport.
Shubman Gill took to social media to share a photograph of his meeting with Francis Xavier Minz, acknowledging the 48-year-old's efforts to support his son, Robin's dreams. Robin was bought by the GT franchise in IPL 2024 auction for INR 3.60 Cr.
"Honoured to meet Robin Minz's father. Your journey and hard work have been inspiring. Looking forward to seeing you in the IPL," Shubman Gill wrote in his Instagram story.
Francis attentively watches every passenger filing in and out of the building. In a philosophical tone, he sums up the nature of the job: “I see everyone coming out of the airport, but hardly anyone notices me. Why should they? I’m just a security guy here, one of the many.”
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“This is my job, to ensure that no one who has left the airport re-enters without an ID. You never know who has a gun in his hand. One lapse and I would lose my job,” Francis told Indian Express.
As an afterthought, he adds: “I cannot be lax because my son is an IPL cricketer. Of course, there is more financial security in the family, but you never know how life would turn out to be. A lot of my colleagues ask me why I need to work anymore. But I tell them I will keep working as long as I feel like working and I am healthy.”
He spent two decades in the 9 Bihar Regiment, posted in Naxalite-hit areas of the state in Indian Army.
“We still live in the same house. I still drive the same bike. It’s a decent house, so we have not even thought of moving or buying a bigger one. Fortunately, Robin too has remained the same. He knows he has to keep working hard, and cannot be carried away. He is still the same old boy of ours,” he says.
Francis admits he is a Dhoni-tragic. He revealed that Dhoni knows him from long back. He used to give Robin cricket shoes and gear. A few days before the auction, the former India captain assured him that if no team picked him, Chennai Super Kings would.
