Shubman Gill (8 September 1999) is an Indian international cricketer who represents the national side in all formats. He is the Test captain and vice-captain in the ODI format. He is the world’s #1 ODI batter as of May 2025. He leads Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League and represents Punjab in domestic cricket. Right-handed top-order batsman, he debuted internationally in January 2019 against New Zealand. He was a member of the 2025 Champion Trophy-winning team. In ODI cricket, he is the quickest to score 2000 runs in 38 innings and 2500 runs in 50 innings.
He also has the record for becoming the youngest player to achieve a double century at the age of 23 in ODI as well. He played his List-A in 2017 against Vidarbha and first-class against Bengal in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy for Punjab, making a half-century in the match, and 129 runs in the previous match against Services.
As India’s Under-19 vice-captain, He amassed 372 runs at an average of 124.00 during the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in which he was instrumental in India’s fourth title victory and a Player of the Tournament award for the edition. His unbeaten 102 against Pakistan U-19 in the semi-final drew commendations from batting legends Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Sourav Ganguly.
Early life
Gill was born on 8 September 1999 to a Punjabi Sikh family in village Chak Jaimal Singh Wala of Fazilka district, Punjab, India. He is the son of a farmer, Lakhwinder Singh, who wanted to be a cricketer. He has one older sister named Shahneel Gill. He started showing potential in cricket at an early age, grabbing a bat when he was three years old. Noticing his interest in the sport, Lakhwinder decided to train him, sending 500 to 700 balls every day towards him. In 2007, he shifted the family to Mohali, close to the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, in order to provide him with better training conditions.
At age twelve, he impressed the then Indian bowler Karsan Ghavri, who suggested that he shpuld go for the Under-19 all-India pace bowlers’ camp. He was pitched against U-19 bowlers in the nets, so Ghavri asked PCA to place him in Punjab’s U-14 side. He is childhood friend of Abhishek Sharma and they both used to open the innings for Punjab in the under-14s. Playing in an Inter-District Under-16 match against Amritsar, Gill for Mohali scored 351 runs and in partnership with Nirmal Singh established a record first-wicket stand of 587 runs. At the age of just 14, he hit a double-century on his Under-16 debut for Punjab in the Vijay Merchant Trophy.
Domestic career
Gill represented Punjab in List A cricket for the first time in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 25 February 2017 against Vidharbha, where he was run out after scoring 11 runs. In his second game against Assam, he made his first List A century, making 121 runs from 129 balls. His first-class match debut was against Bengal in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy on 17 November 2017. Later that month, in his second first-class match, he made his first century playing for Punjab against Services. He made 129 runs from 142 balls.
In October 2018, he was included in India C’s team for the 2018–19 Deodhar Trophy. Scoring an unbeaten century in the final round-robin game against India A, he aided India C’s promotion to the final. In November, he was included in one of eight players to watch as identified by ESPNcricinfo for the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy. In December 2018, in the match against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, he made his first double hundred in first-class cricket with a score of 268 runs.
On 25 December 2018, on the fourth day of the match against Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy, when Punjab required 338 runs in 57 overs, he played 148 off 154 balls, single-handedly almost leading his team to win. The game ended in a draw, with Punjab completing the run chase at 324/8 from 57 overs. In the Bengal match, he crossed 1,000 runs in first-class cricket in his fifteenth inning. He was the top run-getter for Punjab in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy with 728 runs in five games.
In August 2019, Gill was named as the captain of the India Blue team for the 2019–20 Duleep Trophy. He was picked as the captain of India C team for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy in October 2019. In November 2019, he became the youngest player to captain a team in a tournament final. He was 20 years and 57 days old, breaking Virat Kohli’s record, who was 21 years 124 days old during the 2009–10 season.
Gill was signed by Glamorgan in September 2022 as their overseas player for the rest of the 2022 County Championship season. He made his debut at the Sophia ground against Worcestershire.
International career
Gill represented India U-19 in the 2016 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in December 2016, where he was the second-highest run-scorer of the tournament after teammate Himanshu Rana. India won the tournament, beating Sri Lanka U-19 in the final, with Gill making 70 runs from 92 balls. In February 2017, he was instrumental in the team’s series victory over England U-19. In December 2017, he was appointed vice captain of India’s team for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Gill made 102* runs out of 94 deliveries during the semifinal against Pakistan U-19, winning him the Player of the Match award.
In the final, India beat Australia U-19 to win their 4th title. He played a good tournament, topping the team in runs with 372 runs and was also awarded the player of the tournament. After India’s tournament matches, the International Cricket Council (ICC) declared Gill as the emerging star of the team. Gill was picked for India’s team for the limited overs series against New Zealand in January 2019.
On 31 January 2019, he played his One Day International (ODI) match for India in the fourth ODI of the series against New Zealand at Seddon Park, Hamilton. In August 2019, Gill became the youngest Indian to score a double century in a first-class match. He scored 204 runs for India A when he was 19 years and 334 days old against West Indies A at Trinidad and Tobago’s Brian Lara Cricket Academy. In the next month, he was picked for India’s Test team for their tour of South Africa but didn’t get a chance to play.
Gill was appointed captain of India A team for India A’s tour of New Zealand in December 2019. In February 2020, he was again included in India’s Test team, this time for their series against New Zealand.
Gill played his Test debut for India on 26 December 2020 in the 2020 Border–Gavaskar Trophy, helping India come back to win the second match of the series. He scored 91 runs off 146 balls during the fourth Test at the Gabba, playing a pivotal part in India’s series victory. Gill played four matches and scored 119 runs in the 2021 England tour of India, with a half-century in the second innings of the first match. India defeated the 4-match Test series 3–1.
Gill was included in the Indian team for the final of the 2021 ICC World Test Championship against New Zealand. India lost the match, with Gill making 28 runs off 64 deliveries in the first innings and 8 runs off 33 deliveries in the second innings. Gill made 144 runs in the 2-match Test series against New Zealand in November 2021 and was the fourth-highest run-scorer of the series. India won the series 1–0.
In July 2022, in India’s tour of West Indies and USA, Gill aggregated 205 runs in three games, a 98 not out in the third ODI being one of them. He was the series’ highest run-scorer. India swept West Indies 3-0 and Gill received the Player of the Series award. In the third ODI match against Zimbabwe on 22 August 2022, Gill also achieved his first century for the Indian national team in an ODI. He was the series’ leading run-scorer and received the Player of the Series award. India won the series by 3–0.
In South Africa’s Indian tour in October 2022, Gill scored 80 runs in three matches and was the fourth highest scorer of the ODI series and enabled India to win the series by 2–1. Gill was the third highest run-scorer of the series in November 2022, in the ODI series against New Zealand, with a score of 108 runs including a half-century in the first game. He scored his first Test century in the first Test match of the series against Bangladesh in December 2022, with a score of 110 runs.
Gill debuted in Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) on 3 January 2023, against Sri Lanka. He made seven runs off five balls in that match. In the ODI series, Gill made 207 runs and was the second top run-scorer of the series after Virat Kohli. On 18 January 2023, in the first of the series against New Zealand, Gill made a double century with a total of 208 runs. He became the fifth Indian batsman to achieve a double century in ODIs, and he is also the youngest batsman to achieve a double century in ODIs in men’s international cricket.
Gill scored his first T20I century in the third match, scoring 126 not out off 63 balls, and became the 5th Indian batsman to achieve a century across all the international cricket formats. He is also the record holder for most individual runs by an Indian batsman in men’s T20Is.
On 9 March 2023, Gill scored his second Test century during the fourth match of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India won the series 2–1 and retained the trophy. Gill was included in the Indian team for the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final against Australia. He made 13 runs off 15 balls in the first innings and 18 runs off 19 balls in the second innings. India lost the final for the second time in a row. In the 2023 West Indies and USA tour of India, Gill was the second-highest run-scorer of the ODI series after Ishan Kishan. Gill was picked for the Indian team in the 2023 Asia Cup.
In the match against Bangladesh, he made his fifth ODI century, reaching 121 runs. India won the competition by defeating Sri Lanka in the final, and Gill became the top run-scorer of the competition with a total of 302 runs. Gill could not play the first two matches of the 2023 Cricket World Cup because he suffered from dengue. He played in the third match against Pakistan. Gill became the quickest batsman to score 2000 runs in ODIs during the game against New Zealand when he reached this feat in 38 innings, breaking the earlier record of 40 innings by South African cricketer Hashim Amla. India lost the final against Australia. Gill made 354 runs from nine games.
In May 2024, he was included as a reserve player in India’s team for the tournament of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
In June 2024, he was appointed as captain of India series against Zimbabwe. He made his first stint as captain of the Indian Cricket Team.
In February 2025, during the ICC Champions Trophy, Gill was the highest ranked ODI Batter entering the tournament. He made an unbeaten 101 to lead India to a win over Bangladesh in the first group match.
Franchise Career
In January 2018, he was purchased by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹1.8 crore (US$210,000) at the 2018 IPL auction. He debuted in Twenty20 for Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2018 Indian Premier League on 14 April 2018. Gill scored 203 runs in the 2018 season as KKR reached third, losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2.
In March 2019, he was included as one of eight players to look out for by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the 2019 Indian Premier League tournament. Gill made 296 runs during the 2019 season when KKR ended fifth. He also received the Emerging Player of the tournament award during the 2019 Indian Premier League.
In 2020, Gill made 440 runs, being the highest run-scorer of KKR during the year. The team would finish fifth again though.
In the 2021 season of the IPL, Gill scored 478, KKR’s top scorer for the second time in a row. KKR made it to the final in which Gill would score a half-century but the team would go on to lose to CSK, finishing second. When two new teams joined the league, every team could retain a maximum of 4 players but Gill was not retained.
Before the 2022 IPL auction, Gill was picked by the newly established Gujarat Titans franchise for ₹8 crore (approximately ₹8.5 crore or US$1.0 million in 2023). Gill would get 483 runs in 2022, and the Titans would beat Rajasthan Royals to win the 2022 IPL in their first season.
In the 2023 season, Gill made 890 runs, becoming the second highest run scorer in one IPL season and being awarded the orange cap. Gill became the fourth player to score back to back centuries, 101 against SRH and 104* against RCB. In Qualifier 2 against MI, Gill scored the season’s highest individual score of 129 off 60 deliveries and record for highest ever score in an IPL playoffs game and second most centuries in an IPL season at 3. Although Gill featured in his third successive final, the Titans defeated by the Chennai Super Kings.
You can also read our blog on The King Virat Kohli.
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