Rishabh Pant Is My Hero; He Is My Go-To Man In The Indian Team: Shubman Gill

Talented opener and the 2018 U-19 World Cup-winner Shubman Gill has a stellar start to his Test career in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Having made his debut in the Boxing Day Test where he replaced his U-19 captain Prithvi Shaw, Shubman Gill proved his mettle on the biggest stage against a top-quality Australian attack comprising of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, and Nathan Lyon.

Gill finished with 259 runs across six innings with the help of a couple of half-centuries. His finest knock unarguably came in the second innings of the Brisbane Test where he scored a classy 91, setting up the game for the eventual assault by Rishabh Pant.

Shubman Gill, in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, heaped high praise on the entire team for the manner in which they pulled off the win on the fifth day of the series-decider.

“The team was aiming for a win. The way Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur played in the first innings was outstanding. We got a good start in the second innings. The way Cheteshwar Pujara paaji took the blows was so inspiring. Thereafter, Rishabh Pant played an amazing brand of cricket, “Shubman Gill said.

Gill reserved special praise for Rishabh Pant for the manner in which he played two back-to-back brilliant knocks in the fourth innings.

Battling injury in the third Test, Rishabh Pant reignited the visitor’s hopes of an unlikely win with a brutal 97 off 118 ball on a fifth-day SCG pitch.

Pant, however, could not get the job done as he was dismissed by Nathan Lyon for 97. The southpaw, however, ensured that that wasn’t the case in Brisbane as his unbeaten 89 helped India chase down their third-highest fourth innings total to not only breach the ‘Gabbatoir’ but also script their second consecutive Test series win on Aussie soil.

Hailing Rishabh Pant as his hero, Shubman Gill revealed that the southpaw is his go-to man in the Indian team.

“We all were egging him on from the dressing room. He is my hero and also my go-to person in the team. Hats off to him for his stunning 89—despite an injury (97 at the SCG braving a painful elbow), he made batting look easy,” he added.

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