Why is Shubman Gill called The Prince of Cricket in India?

In any sport, there are great players or teams that define eras with the way they play, the way they dominate, and the way they entertain sports fans with their abilities. But history is a testament that eras do come to an end. A person from the 80-90s would have never thought that there could be a batsman like Sachin Tendulkar, who dominates all formats of cricket with his batting elegance. After all, he has been conferred with the Title of God of Cricket But then, the King of Cricket, Virat Kohli touched new heights with the bat and set a new benchmark of consistency. But even his era of being the greatest modern-day batsman will come to an end someday. And most people think the player who has the ability to move past both of them already plays for the Indian Cricket Team. And he is none other than Shubman Gill, the Prince of Cricket.

Credit: The Independent

In this article by ZAP, lets know more about Shubman Gill, who is known as the prince of cricket in India, and why he is the next big thing in cricket. 

Why is Shubman Gill called the prince of the Indian Cricket Team?

The God of Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar was the greatest batsman on planet earth for every year he played cricket. Virat Kohli, also known as the King of Modern Cricket, except for the few out-of-form years that he has had, has been the best batsman in the 2010-2020 decade, dominating all run-scoring records. But there’s always a player, who, if not for eclipsing a legendary player’s career, surely matches their legacy, and in this case, it most certainly is Shubman Gill. Gill became a part of the Indian Team at a very young age and right from the get-go, started showing immense potential in all three formats of the game. His batting technique is well refined, similar to how Sachin and Virat Kohli had a beautiful style. In his short career so far with the Indian Cricket Team and in the IPL, he has given some exceptional performances and shown immense maturity and talent with the cricket bat, and for that, people have already started calling him the Prince of Cricket in India.

Shubman Gill’s Early Life, Family, and Love for Cricket:

Credit: NDTV Sports

Shubman Gill was born on 8 September 1999 and as of Jan 2024, his age is 24 years old. He was born into a Sikh family in Punjab, where his father, Lakhwinder Singh, who is a farmer dreamt of his son playing cricket for the Indian Cricket Team. He showed brilliant talent from a very young age and after seeing his talent, his parents decided to move to Mohali to support his growth in the sport and that he could train better and on a higher level. His talent had no bounds at at age 14, he smashed a double ton in his debut match for the Punjab U-16 team. He also had some solid performances in both First Class and List A matches, but he gained real recognition when he got selected as the vice-captain of India's Under-19 for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup which was being held in India. Gill performed exceptionally well in the 2018 ICC U-19 World Cup, scoring a total of 372 runs with an average of 124.00. He played a crucial role at the number three position, contributing significantly to India's fourth world title win. In the semi-final against Pakistan U-19, he scored an unbeaten 102 runs, receiving praise from cricket legends like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly. His outstanding performance earned him the Player of the Tournament award and with his performances, he launched himself on the global stage. 

Shubman Gill Indian Cricket Team Debut and International Cricket Career:

Shubman Gill ODI Career:

Credit: NDTV Sports

Gill was included in the India squad for the limited-overs phase of their series against New Zealand in January 2019. Shubman Gill’s ODI Debut came in the 4Th ODI against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on January 31, 2019. His first ODI Century came against Zimbabwe on 22 August 2022 at Harare. 2023 was the year when his form exploded and he started the year as the best batsman in the world. On 18 January 2023, in the home series against New Zealand, Shubman Gill scored an ODI Double Century, which is also his highest score, smashing 208 runs off 149 runs. He became the fifth batsman from India to do so and is now the youngest batsman in men's international cricket history with an ODI Double Century. His form was impeccable in the first half of 2023 but eventually dipped at the 2023 ODI Cricket World Cup which was held in India. With not so great performances with the bat, his place as the opener was being questioned by the critics but ended up playing all matches including the final. He got dismissed fairly early in the India vs Australia World Cup which India lost heartbreakingly. Shubman Gill scored 354 runs with a high score of 92 at the World Cup 2023 andl is currently 1st in the ICC ODI rankings. 

Shubman Gill T20 Career:

Gill marked his entry into Twenty20 International cricket on January 3, 2023, playing against Sri Lanka. Then, on February 1, 2023, he achieved his first T20I century in a match against New Zealand. He became only the fifth Indian batter to score a century in all formats of the game. He also owns the record for the highest score by an Indian in a T20i scoring 126 off 63 runs. 

Shubman Gill Test Career:

Credit: India Today

After some stellar performances in domestic cricket and for India A, Gill was in top contention for becoming India’s first-choice opener after the team had moved past Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, and Mayank Agarwal as test openers. He was selected for the Indian Test Cricket side in the 2019 series against South Africa but only played a part from the bench. Gill was a part of the Indian squad in the best Test Series ever played, the 2020-21 India Tour of Australia. India was down after a humiliating defeat in the first test and after a lot of criticism from the sports media, registering a comeback was important. Gill made his test debut on 26 December 2020, against Australia in the second test, scoring a solid 45 runs in the first innings and 35 in the second helping India with a comeback win. The series was tied 1-1 after the second test, but the Indian Cricket Team had a miserable injury crisis with even the net bowlers and backups needing to play in the rest two matches. He scored his 50 in the third test, which, too was a close escape after the final-day heroics from Ravi Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari. The 4th test was the reckoning day and Shubman lived up to his talent. He took on the trio of Australian Team Pacers, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood, and countered them aggressively scoring an invaluable 91 runs, which felt more important than scoring a century. India went on to win the 4th with a brilliant finish from Rishabh Pant, sealing a historic series victory down under. Gill scored his first century scoring 110 runs in a Test match against Bangladesh on December 16, 2022.

Shubman Gill in the IPL:

The Kolkata Knight Riders IPL Team bet on Shubman Gill in 2018 after his incredible performances for the India u-19 team. He scored 202 runs in his debut season in the IPL. His consistent performances earned him the Emerging Player award in 2019, scoring 296 runs. In 2020, Gill became the highest run-scorer for KKR with 440 runs, and in the 2021 edition, he scored a stunning 478 runs, leading KKR to the final. Despite his heroics, they finished as runners-up. 

Credit: Mint

His chapter ended with the Knight Riders when the IPL expanded into a bigger league in 2022 adding two new teams, the Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. Gill was traded from KKR to GT and in his first season with Gujarat, he played an important role in their IPL victory, scoring 483 runs with the bat. The following season, in 2023 IPL, Gill took the league by storm, smashing 890 runs, the second-highest ever in a single IPL season. He achieved the rare feat of back-to-back centuries and a record-breaking 129 runs in the playoffs. Despite his extraordinary performances, the Titans fell short in the final against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings. 

Shubman Gill – The New Gujarat Titans Captain:

Hardik Pandya led the Gujarat Titans to two consecutive IPL Finals and even won a title in their first-ever season in the league. But after Mumbai Indians, his first IPL team came with an offer to bring him back to the Wankhede as their captain, he couldn’t deny the offer. Hardik left Gujarat and the Titans were left behind without a captain. Since his debut in 2018, Gill showcased his evolution as a top-tier batsman and an influential figure in the team. Gill was soon announced as the new captain of Gujarat Titans shortly after Hardik’s departure. With experience from players like Kane Williamson and Gujarat Titans Coach Ashish Nehra, surely will have good backing to help him lead his team to success.  

Shubman Gill’s Stats and Records:

Format	Mat	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
Tests	20	1040	128	30.58	59.32	2	4
ODIs	44	2271	208	61.37	103.46	6	13
T20Is	14	335	126*	25.76	147.57	1	1

Test Records:

In Tests, Shubman Gill has played 20 matches with 37 innings. He has scored a total of 1040 runs at an average of 30.58, including two centuries and four half-centuries. His highest score in Tests is 128.

ODI Records:

Shubman Gill's ODI record is impressive, with 44 matches and 44 innings. He has accumulated 2271 runs at a remarkable average of 61.37, featuring six centuries and thirteen half-centuries. His highest score in ODIs is 208. 

He reached the milestone of 2,000 ODI runs in his 38th innings, setting a world record for scoring 2,000 runs in the lowest number of innings. The previous record was 40 innings by Hashim Amla of South Africa.

T20I Records:

In T20 Internationals, Shubman Gill has played 14 matches and batted in 14 innings. He has scored 335 runs at an average of 25.76, with a highest score of 126*. Gill has showcased an impressive strike rate of 147.57 and registered one century and one half-century in T20Is.

In all international formats of cricket, as of Jan 2023, Shubman Gill has 13 total centuries and has scored 3646 runs.

Shubman Gill IPL Stats Records:

Year	Matches	Runs	100s	50s	HS	Strike Rate	Batting AVG
2018	13	203	0	1	57*	146.04	33.83
2019	14	296	0	3	76	124.36	32.88
2020	14	440	0	3	70*	117.96	33.84
2021	17	478	0	3	57	118.90	28.11
2022	16	483	0	4	96	132.33	34.50
2023	17	890	3	4	129	157.80	59.33
Career	91	2790	3	18	129	134.07	37.70

Shubman has been a consistent performer in the IPL, showcasing his batting prowess over the years. In total Shubman Gill has scored 2790 IPL Runs in 91 career matches at an average of 37.70 with a decent strike rate of 134.07. Gill has even scored 3 IPL Centuries, all of which came in the 2023, his best year yet. 

Decoding Shubman Gill’s Batting Style:

Credit: Cricket.com

Shubman is the main top-order batsman of the Indian cricket team and has a very technically astute batting style. He can attack in the powerplay and even play as the supporting batsman as he does along with Rohit Sharma as the batting partner. He also has the ability to accelerate the scoring rate whenever required and has done that multiple times, both for the ICT and Gujarat Titans. His best batting comes against the new swinging leather balls. He has mastered playing shots down the ground like the cover drive and straight drive. And if the bowler goes even a tiny bit short in length, he just square cuts it or plays the pull shot which are two of his best cricket strokes. One of the best abilities he has is that of playing spin bowling and keeping his head in a stable position while he bats. 

Apart from being a very good batsman technically, he also is one of the best slip fielders in the Indian Team. He usually is stood at the slip fielding position or at the close catching position and has the safest pair of hands while fielding in such positions.

Shubman Gill vs Virat Kohli – Can the Prince become the New King of Cricket?

Credit: Hindustan Times

Though Shubman Gill is known as the Prince of Indian Cricket, the question that lingers in the air is whether he can ascend to the throne and emerge as the new king of cricket. Shubman Gill vs Virat Kohli is not only about the runs they score but about their legacies, a quest to take the place of a legend who is his idol. Gill is seen as the potential successor to the iconic duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, who defined a cricketing generation in India. The year 2023 proved to be a stellar period for him with remarkable performances and record-breaking achievements. Even in the Indian Premier League (IPL), he played a pivotal role in leading the Gujarat Titans to the finals, scoring impressive three-digit scores against opponents like the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians and even denied Virat Kohli a playoffs spot. Despite falling short of clinching the title, Gill secured the prestigious Orange Cap for being the highest run-scorer in the IPL season. While the latter half of 2023 saw Gill facing setbacks in the World Test Championship Final and the 2023 ICC ODI Cricket World Cup Final, both against Australia, his extraordinary talent remains undeniable. The question arises if he can fill the shoes of Virat Kohli to become the new king of cricket. The answer to this is very complex, and only time will tell. 

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