Indian Test skipper and all-format star Shubman Gill has opened up about the childhood moment that made him realise cricket was his true calling. Speaking in an interview on Apple Music’s official YouTube channel, Gill recalled how at the age of 11, he stunned everyone at a camp with under-23 fast bowlers.
“Honestly, I realised this is going to be my career when I was 11. Like, a moment happened. There was a camp going on of under-23 Indian fast bowlers, and I was only 11. So they were more than double my age, most of the players there, and they were a batsman short. One of my really good friends, one of my closest friends who I practised with, Khushpreet, was in that camp. He was a fast bowler, and he asked the head coach if he could get me because we were a batsman short and we were playing a match,” Gill recalled.
“And then I was batting way down the order, like at number seven or eight. Our first four or five batsmen got out within four or five overs, and then I went in to bat and scored 90-something not out. That moment and that innings, like, it was just a practice match, nothing, but the confidence that moment gave me is what made me realise, okay, this is… this is like, I am meant to do this,” he added.
Early Signs of Talent
The Indian batting superstar also revealed that his cricket journey began much earlier. At just three years old, he imitated cricketers he watched with his father on television. His father, impressed by Gill’s natural ability, began coaching him at home.
“I then used to sit and watch, okay, what is the batsman doing, how is he hitting, and I used to try to imitate that. When he used to come back and see, oh, if I’m doing it in the right way. I was about three years old, and he was quite shocked. It is quite rare that a three-year-old can imitate seeing something on the screen that well. And that is how it started. He is also my coach, so that’s how he started coaching me. That’s how we… so people used to work on our farm, they used to come and throw balls at me, and I used to bat,” he said.
From Fazilka to Chandigarh
Gill shared that his journey took a serious turn when his family moved from Fazilka to Chandigarh. At the age of seven, he joined a cricket academy, which gave him the right exposure and facilities to develop his skills.
“When I turned about 7, that’s when we came from there to Chandigarh, where I am right now, because back in the village, obviously, there were not many facilities, not many opportunities there. Chandigarh was the capital of Punjab, a very booming city, and that is where we came. He enrolled me on an academy, and that’s how my actual cricketing journey started,” he concluded.
Rise to Stardom
From batting on his father’s farm to leading India in Tests, Gill’s rise has been remarkable. At just 26, he has already played 114 international matches, scoring 6,020 runs in 146 innings at an average of 46.30 and a strike rate of 80.05. His record includes 18 centuries and 25 half-centuries.
Gill’s achievements also include an IPL title, the Orange Cap, and India’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 triumph. As captain, he guided India to a 2-2 Test series draw against England in England, a feat that further cemented his place as the new poster boy of Indian cricket.
With talent, leadership, and consistency, Shubman Gill looks destined for even greater heights in the years ahead.
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