New Delhi, Sep 12 (UNI) Indian Test Skipper and all format star Shubman Gill, who recently led India in the five match Test series against England, has said that cricket legends Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have been major inspirations in his career.
Speaking on a podcast, Gill recalled his early training in Punjab, his cricketing milestones and the influence of senior players on his game. He also spoke about India’s Test victory at Birmingham in the series played from June to August 2025, which ended 2-2.
Gill described the match as highly competitive. “It was a grueling battle of both teams giving each other hard punches. To come out on top at Birmingham, where India had never won before, felt pretty amazing,” he said at the Apple Music Podcast.
Recalling his formative years, Gill said his father, Lakhwinder Singh, was his first coach. “I started battling at the age of three. My father used to make me face 500 to 700 balls a day. Sometimes the farm workers would bowl and they were given small rewards if they got me out,” he said.
He pointed to an innings in his childhood that gave him the confidence to pursue cricket seriously. “When I was about 11, I was asked to bat against under-23 fast bowlers. I scored 90 not out, and that was the day I knew this was my destiny,” Gill reflected.
About his idols, the young cricketer said, “I have had two idols. The first one was Sachin Tendulkar. He was my dad’s favorite, and I actually got into cricket because of him. He retired in 2013, and around 2011–2013 was when I really started to understand cricket properly, not just the skills, but also the mental and tactical side of the game,” he said.
“That was also the time I began following Virat Kohli closely. I loved watching the way he went about his business, the sheer passion he had for the game, and the hunger he carried. You can learn all the skills and all the techniques, but hunger is something you either have or you don’t. Virat had it in abundance, and that really inspired me,” he added.
Gill said that when he was seven years of age, he shifted to Chandigarh from Fazilka, and he was enrolled in a cricket academy, which truly kick-started his cricketing journey.
“When I turned about 7, that’s when we came from there to Chandigarh, where I am right now, because back in the village, obviously, there were not many facilities, not many opportunities there. Chandigarh was the capital of Punjab, a very booming city, and that is where we came. He enrolled me in an academy, and that’s how my actual cricketing journey started,” he highlighted.
