“Chittar khaane se pehle runs banaa diye”: Yuvraj Singh compliments Shubman Gill for winning first Man of the Series award in international cricket

Yuvraj Singh compliments Shubman Gill: The former Indian all-rounder expressed happiness for a rookie Indian batter.

Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh took to social media platforms this evening to post a light-hearted video around the recent success of India batter Shubman Gill.

Making an ODI comeback after more than 18 months without having played a single List A match in between, Gill justified his selection in the Playing XI for three ODIs in West Indies by becoming the highest run-scorer.

Gill, who scored 205 runs at an average and strike rate of 102.50 each, missed out on a maiden international century in the third ODI but managed to bag a maiden Player of the Series award earlier this week.

Yuvraj’s 92-second video whilst working out featured Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek Sharma. Been part of India’s U-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2018 alongside Gill, Sharma revealed having a telephonic conversation with him before the third ODI in Port of Spain.

“I am very happy, bhaji [brother]. Had spoken to him a day before the match. He had said it would be great to score a maiden hundred [in international cricket]. All the practice sessions paid off well. Many congratulations to him for winning his first Man of the Series. Many more to come,” Sharma told Yuvraj in the video.

Yuvraj Singh compliments Shubman Gill for winning first Man of the Series award in international cricket

Seemingly joyous for Gill’s achievements, Yuvraj congratulated the 22-year old player although with a sarcastic message.

“Acha hua [ki] chittar khaane se pehle usne runs banaa diye [Good for him that he made those runs before I beat him up]. Good start. Long way to go,” Yuvraj responded to Sharma’s congratulatory message in an amusing manner.

Gill, who had made his List A (alongside Sharma) and first-class debut for Punjab under former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, has shared the dressing room with Yuvraj on a few occasions in domestic cricket.

Yuvraj, who is more of a mentor-figure for both Gill and Sharma, has been both critical and supportive of these two players over the years. Perhaps keen to see them achieve success at the highest level, Yuvraj has publicly talked about Gill and Sharma in the past as well.

Gill commented under Yuvraj’s video on Instagram acknowledging that he was aware about the cuss words which would have come his way from him had he not scored in West Indies.

Having grabbed an ODI opportunity with both hands, Gill’s next target should be to stand tall on his potential in Test cricket. A player of his ability is expected to do better than scoring 579 runs at an average of 30.47 in his first 11 Test matches.