Boria Majumdar in Birmingham
Shubman Gill’s story is that of perseverance, hard work, unbelievable talent and also sacrifices of a family that moved out of its comfort zone to build a career for their beloved child.
At the start of this journey, a small but significant role was played by former India left-arm seamer Karsan Ghavri. Like in the case of Cheteshwar Pujara, his father Arvind had sought Ghavri’s advice on whether to invest time and energy in his son’s career and got a positive feedback. When it came to Shubman, it was completely the opposite, as it was Ghavri who told Lakhwinder, Shubman’s father, that his son is a “special talent” who can go places if he works hard.
“I think it was 2009–10 and there was an all-India pace bowler’s camp organised by the Punjab Cricket Association. 155 boys from in and around Punjab, some from Bihar and Bengal also had all come for that trial-cum-camp. They were all 18 to 19 years old. I remember Sandy (Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer Sandeep Sharma) was part of that camp,” Ghavri had said. He, along with the team of coaches, first conducted an extensive physical training session for the boys and then the skills part was supposed to start. “Now when the nets were supposed to start, I saw there weren’t any batsmen arranged by the PCA. I spoke to Mr Pandove (long time Punjab CA strongman Mahender Pandove) and Sushil Kapoor (longest serving Punjab Ranji team manager) and asked them to arrange for some good batters. And they did.”
The practice was going on fine at the PCA practice facilities in Mohali when on one of the days it started drizzling steadily, so they had to stop the nets. It would have taken some time to make the indoor facility operational. “That day me and one of my assistant coaches felt that till the nets started, let’s take a walk around and there was a nearby ground where we just causally went while taking a stroll. Now, there was a match going on there and it was all 12–or-13-year-old boys playing. They didn’t stop even in that steady drizzle on a wet pitch. But what caught my attention was one of the boys who was batting. The technique and the kind of shots he played stood out. I just couldn’t move. That boy captivated me with his strokes,” Ghavri said.
As Ghavri was leaving the ground, he saw one man standing under the shade of a tree, intensely watching the match, and thought that maybe he could help. “I went up to him and asked what he was doing, standing alone at one side. He answered, ‘my son is playing’.”
Ghavri immediately asked who his son was, and he pointed to the boy that Ghavri so much wanted to know about. “That’s my son Shubman, and he is 12 years old,” Lakhwinder had said. “I just told him that his son is a fantastic player and he should just send him to the PCA nets tomorrow. In my mind, I wanted Shubman to face the 18-year-olds like Sandeep. Somewhere in my mind I knew he can,” Ghavri recalled.
Much like Ghavri, the Indian selectors knew he can. And from what we have seen in England, they haven’t made a mistake.
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