Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar has revealed how impressed Shubman Gill had left everyone, including the likes of Ravi Shastri, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli, with his first net session for the Indian team in 2019.
Shubman Gill’s India ODI debut came in 2019 on the tour of New Zealand. Virat Kohli, the captain of India at the time, claimed that he realized he was just 10% as talented at the nets as the young Shubman Gill when he was 19.
"I saw him bat in the nets, and I was like, 'Wow, I was not even ten percent of that when I was 19,'" Kohli had said.
Bangar, who was the batting coach back then, echoed Kohli's sentiments.
"It was his first session, and he walked out to bat in the nets. Ravi Shastri was the head coach, the captain was Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni was still in the team. We were preparing for the 2019 ODI World Cup,” Bangar said on Doordarshan Sports.
"The sidearm throwers and I started to bowl at Shubman. When we pitched it up, he would play the drive. Thoda sa off-stump ke bahar hai toh cut maare. Thoda sa short de do toh pull maare. Dusra net band ho gaya, inka hi net chal raha, and sab dekh rahe hai ki ye kya hai. (If the ball was a little outside off-stump, he cut it. If it was slightly short, he pulled it. The other nets stopped; only his net was going on, and everyone was watching in amazement—wondering what this was,” Bangar added.
Bangar also described coach Shastri's enthusiasm, stating that he wanted Gill to start right away.
"Coach Ravi Shastri was so impressed that he wanted to put him in the playing XI. 'Isko abhi khila do' (Play him now). He left that kind of imprint in his first net session itself, and we realized then that this boy was special," he added.
Shubman Gill has played 37 Tests, scoring 2647 runs with 9 centuries. In 55 ODIs, Gill has 2775 runs with 8 centuries, and in 21 T20Is, he has 578 runs with one century to his name. He is now the Indian Test captain and vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is.
