Shubman Gill, India's Test captain and vice-captain of the ODI and T20I teams, has named his two cricketing idols. They are none other than two of the all-time great batters India has produced—Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

Sachin Tendulkar, inarguably one of the greatest batters of all time, played 24 years for the Indian team. Making his India debut at 16 in 1989, Tendulkar played 200 Tests, 463 ODIs, and one T20I till 2013. He holds the record for most runs in Tests—15921and ODIs—18426. He remains the only batter to hit 100 international centuries and was the first male cricketer to hit a double century in ODIs.

"I have had two idols. The first one was Sachin Tendulkar. He was my dad's favorite, and I actually got into cricket because of him. He retired in 2013, and around 2011-2013 was when I really started to understand cricket properly, not just the skills but also the mental and tactical side of the game," Shubman Gill said in a podcast on Apple Music.

The second name Gill took was after Virat Kohli, who followed in the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar. They were part of the Indian 2011 World Cup-winning team. Kohli made 9230 runs in 123 Tests and 4188 runs in 125 T20Is before retiring from the formats. He has 14181 runs in 302 ODIs with a record 51 centuries to his name.

“That was also the time I began following Virat Kohli closely. I loved watching the way he went about his business, the sheer passion he had for the game, and the hunger he carried. You can learn all the skills and all the techniques, but hunger is something you either have or you don't. Virat had it in abundance, and that really inspired me," Shubman added.  

With Kohli retired from Tests and T20Is, Shubman Gill has taken over from him in the two formats.