(With inputs from Ajinkya Bhalerao)
His international career didn’t get off to a great start but youngster Shubman Gill says he’s happy with its trajectory so far. The 20-year-old, who played a major role in India’s winning campaign at the Under-19 World Cup in February 2018, made his senior debut in January this year.
“I think my career is going at the right pace. In all the tournaments, I have been trying to step up my game and trying to work hard and get those runs,” said Gill at a promotional event, organised by Cinthol.
The top-order batsman from Punjab managed scores of 9 and 7 in the fourth and fifth ODI against New Zealand, but says the average debut isn’t troubling him.
“I’ve said this earlier. I can’t really expect a fairytale start everywhere I go. I was really disappointed when I didn’t get the runs. I was obviously hoping that I would get the runs and that’d be a really good start for my career. But I’m looking for the next opportunity.”Shubman Gill
With KL Rahul dropped and Rohit Sharma promoted to the top of the order, Gill earned his maiden Test call-up for the home series against South Africa as a reserve opener.
While he didn’t make the playing XI in any of the three games, Gill said he cherished the experience of sharing the dressing room with the best team in the world.
“It was a really good experience for me. Learning from the best team in the world. The form the Indian team is playing with right now… We haven’t lost even a single match. Even in West Indies, and here in India against South Africa. So, it was a really good learning curve for me,” he said.
Commenting on Rohit’s dream debut as Test opener in this series, Gill said, “His (Rohit’s) batting technique didn’t really change. It was all his mental focus and how he was willing to score runs for the Indian team as an opener.”
Shubman, who is currently leading Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament, broke Virat Kohli’s 10-year-old record of captaining a side in a Deodhar Trophy final in early November.
“It obviously feels really good as they made me the Deodhar Captain, and I was really looking forward to captaining my side. It really went well,” said Gill.
On his association with the soap brand, Shubman said, “Cinthol is such an iconic brand and we all have used it since we were kids. So, it feels really good to be associated with such brands.”
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