Ahead of the game against the Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday in Pune, Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill was asked to name his inspiration. The 22-year-old elegant batsman, who has made it into India’s Test team, named the legendary Indian batter Sachin Tendulkar as his greatest inspiration growing up.
Tendulkar inspired millions in different generations in his two and half a decade career, and Gill was one of them. Gill, who was born in 1999, would have enjoyed Tendulkar’s later career peak in 2010 and 2011 before the master retired in 2013. Six years after that, Gill made his ODI debut, and a year later he was smashing the Australian on their own turf in Test cricket.
The opener also stated that after Tendulkar’s retirement, it was Virat Kohli who was all over his mind as he has been all over the bowlers’ in the past decade.
“(Greatest inspiration) While growing up, it was Sachin sir. Once he retired and once I started to understand the game a bit more, I was always a fan of Virat bhai,” Gill told while speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports.
Shubman Gill smashes his fourth fifty of IPL 2022
Shubman Gill has been in a topsy-turvy form in the ongoing IPL 2022. He blasted two blazing fifties at the start of the tournament but then his form took a nosedive with a series of low scores.
Then against Mumbai Indians, he got back into runs but his knock of 52 runs off 36 balls ended up in a losing cause. Against the Lucknow Super Giants, though, Gill batted smartly for his 49-ball 63-run unbeaten knock. And while it may seem another slow innings from Gill, it was a tricky and difficult pitch to bat on as he anchored the innings to a total of 144, which LSG fell well short of.
Shubman Gill is now Gujarat’s leading run-scorer in the season so far, having amassed 384 runs in 12 innings at an average of 34 and striking at 137. He’s now the fourth-leading run-scorer in the tournament, only behind Jos Buttler, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan.
