“I was not even 10%”: How Virat Kohli was amazed by Shubman Gill’s brilliance in the nets on his debut tour in New Zealand

India batter Shubman Gill is certainly one of the rising stars of the Indian cricket team at the moment. The right-handed batter from Punjab has all but secured his spot in all three formats of the game. Gill is a technically gifted player, and he impressed the then captain Virat Kohli on his debut tour itself.

Gill came into the limelight during the 2018 U-19 World Cup in New Zealand where India won the title under Prithvi Shaw. Player of the Tournament, Gill had scored 372 runs at an average of 124 with the help of one century and three half-centuries. Interestingly, Gill got his maiden national call-up for the tour of New Zealand tour the following year.

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With India winning the ODI series after the third ODI, BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) opted to rest Kohli for the last two ODIs and the following T20I series. In the absence of Kohli, Gill was handed an ODI debut in the fourth ODI in Hamilton. Gill not only replaced Kohli at No. 3 but also broke his record in his first-ever match for India.

Virat Kohli was amazed by Shubman Gill’s brilliance in the nets on his debut tour

Kohli is one of the best to ever play the game, and he was amazed by Gill’s brilliance in the nets on the debut tour itself. After winning the third ODI, Kohli had backed Gill to make his debut in the next match by highlighting Gill’s impact. He had said that he was not even 10% of Gill when was 19-year old.

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“I saw him bat in the nets and I was like ‘Wow! I was not even 10% of that when I was 19,” Kohli had said in the post-match conference in Mount Maunganui.

“That’s the confidence that they carry and it is great for Indian cricket if the standard keeps going up and the guys coming in can make impact performances straight away and we would be more than happy to give them the chances and help them grow.”

Shubman Gill had failed to leave a mark in debut series

With India getting bundled out for 92 in 30.5 overs, it was the toughest pitch to bat on in the series. India ended up losing that match by 8 wickets. Gill had scored 9 (21) in his debut ODI, whereas he could just score 7 (11) in the fifth match. Part of the collapse at Seddon Park, former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had pumped Gill up after his disappointing debut in international cricket.