Behind Shubman Gill’s marathon net sessions is his father’s advice and his obsession to leave nothing to chance | Cricket-world-cup News

Watching Indian batsmen practice in the nets is about watching a lot of Shubman Gill’s smooth stroke play. Gill, right from his age-group cricket days, has had an insatiable obsession of spending time in the nets. Abhishek Nayar, the assant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, a team Gill had played for, likens him to a good student preparing for an exam. Ajay Ratra, the former wicket keeper and a coach at the National Cricket Academy says Gill had to be literally dragged out of the nets when he was 16. At the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, the venue for India’s game against England on Sunday, Gill out-batted his teammates during practice, like he has done over the years.
On Friday, Gill kept the Indian team’s throwdown special busy. Sri Lankan-born Nuwan Seneviratne was relentless with the sidearm ball-thrower for forty-five minutes. Gill’s focus was unwavering. The next session was about the short ball. The fuzzy tennis ball was twacked off a racquet in the direction of Gill’s helmet who dealt with the bouncers unhurriedly, like he has all the time in the world. Facing the fast bowlers and spinners in the nets was done at the start. Spending hours facing the cricket ball is a habit his father Lakhwinder Singh drilled into a young Shubman. And he continues to follow what has worked for him.
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Former India wicketkeeper Ratra recalls how Gill had to be told to stop practice unlike most other trainees at the NCA in Bengaluru. This was during his Under-16 days.
“It was my first stint as a coach at NCA. At that age, you generally don’t see anyone batting at the nets for so long. Then there was Shubman, who had to be forced out of the nets,” Ratra tells The Indian Express.“A lot of credit goes to his father who made him understand that the more he bats in the nets, the longer he will be able to bat in the match. I guess that has become a habit. He is carrying his father’s wisdom with him,” Ratra adds.
When he was a kid, his father used the plastic ball for throw downs on cement tracks and made him face the spongy bounce of the tennis ball to sharpen his reflexes and develop his backfoot game. Getting on top of the bounce is his second nature.
He’s always been a joy to watch in the nets.
Gill scored a fey 63 on first-class debut against Bengal at Gandhi Ground in Amritsar. Ratra, who was the coach of Punjab then recalls Shubman having no trouble facing seasoned Punjab pacers Siddharth Kaul, Barinder Sran, Sandeep Sharma and Manpreet Gony in the nets.
“That Punjab attack was good, and he was punishing each one of them. Bhajju (Harbhajan Singh) was the captain of Punjab in that match, I remember he stopped training just to watch Shubman bat. After every shot, Bhajji will be like ‘kya khelta hai’ (He plays so well). The next day on that pitch when everyone was struggling, he scored a brilliant fifty,” Ratra said.
Abhishek Nayar, who has seen him from close quarters at the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), says Gill leaves nothing to chance during practice.
“What does a good student do? They prepare a lot. It is the same with Shubman. Not just for the sake of it. There is a method in that madness. He readies himself for all the bowlers. If he is working on the pull shots ahead of the Lucknow game, it means he is getting ready for Mark Wood.
“The reason why he faces every available bowler is that it gives him that confidence that come what may he will have all the answers ready on the match day. I have seen him at the KKR, and trust me this is nothing new. Even before he turned 10, he had this habit of batting for five to six hours everyday at the nets because of Mr Lakhwinder.
Having a long stint during net practice is also how Ajinkya Rahane went about it, Nayar said.
“There are so many batsmen who have this tendency to bat long in the nets. Ajinkya Rahane is one of them, he is someone who doesn’t want to leave the nets. There is also no certainty that if you are batting long, you will surely score runs. No, it is just good preparation and in Shubman’s case, it is a habit,” says Nayyar.Most Read
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Gill’s mentor, friend and Ranji team-mate Gurkeerat Mann, calls him a “cricket geek.”
“He goes big in the pre-match preparation. He prepares a lot before every match. He sets his areas where he can hit a certain bowler. He watches the videos of all the bowlers,” Mann has told this newspaper.
Gill missed the first two matches of the World Cup because of dengue and is yet to set the stage on fire. In the three innings in this World Cup, Shubman has scored 16, 53 and 23. He has not been able to convert his starts but has looked in good touch. Like he did during extended net sessions in Lucknow.