Things like pressure and expectations don’t bother me while playing, reveals Shubman Gill

Be it his impressive start to domestic cricket or the Player of the Tournament performance in the U-19 World Cup last year, Shubman GIll is pegged to become India’s future cricketing star. In his most recent tour for India ‘A’ against the West Indies ‘A’, he was again in the headlines as he made history by becoming the youngest Indian to score a first-class double-century beating Gautam Gambhir’s record.

“Overall it was a good experience for me to play in West Indies. Initially, the wickets were not as good as we expected. So, to get off that period and score for my team and win matches for them was a great feeling,” Shubman Gill was reported saying by Cricbuzz.

With the U19 and ‘A’ teams of the country coached by the legendary Rahul Dravid, the young cadets get exposed to a treasure of knowledge with him in charge. The Wall has had a very successful stint with the country’s future cricketing stars and Gill has benefited from it as well. 

“It helps a lot when Rahul sir is around because he has been with us for the past few years. He is keen to be with us. It helps us not just in our batting, but life in general. You can go to him any time and talk about problems whether it is our batting or other things. He is always there to guide us,” Gill claimed.

The most popular sport in a country with more than a billion people, there is always a sea of players looking to make their mark at the lower stages to get a chance to represent the Men in Blue. The 19-year-old has stated that things are no different in the India ‘A’ team. 

“We are all trying to push the boundaries. Whenever we get the opportunity we make sure we go all out and win matches for the team,” Gill said.

Having come into the spotlight already at such a young age, the whole nation will be expecting big things from him whenever his time comes. However, Gill revealed that such things fail to affect his mindset.

“Whenever I go out to play, things like pressure and expectations never come to my head. The things that come to mind are 'how am I going to score runs on this wicket and how I am going to tackle these bowlers,’” Gill added.

His latest challenge will begin on Saturday when he will captain the India Blue field out onto the field in the latest season of one of the country’s most historically significant domestic tournaments, the Duleep Trophy. It offers a huge platform to the players to make a mark and get on the radar of the Indian selectors.

“As a captain it is important for me to make sure that players are switched on so that they don't think of personal goals all the time. If we are going to win these matches and get to the final, you get one more opportunity to perform,” Gill concluded on the matter.