Ex-India coach recalls Virat Kohli's important lesson for Gill; 'Least you can do is...'

Shubman Gill has become the new big thing for Indian cricket, courtesy of his exploits with the bat across formats. The 23-year-old recently struck a T20I hundred in the series final against New Zealand and became the fifth India batsman to amass centuries in all formats of the game. While the cricket world takes notice of the youngster, he finds himself in the headlines due to a conversation he had with former India captain Virat Kohli.

In his recently released book, 'Coaching Beyond', former India fielding coach R Sridhar revealed how Kohli gave an important lesson to Gill. Virat Kohli is well known for his work ethic and his passion which pushes him to be the best at everything he does. Recalling the incident, Sridhar revealed it happened during a team fielding practice session. 

The fielding coach said that the incident took place in March 2021 in Ahmedabad, where India was training ahead of the third Test match against England. “We were not guaranteed a place in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC), so there was a lot riding on this match. Much debate had been generated by how the colour of the seats, many of which would be unoccupied due to the restrictions necessitated by the pandemic, could offer a difficult backdrop against which to cite the pink ball,” Sridhar said.

"Virat knew he could not control anything else"

"Virat knew he could not control anything else beyond being ready for the unexpected. So, he tucked me aside for a fielding session in twilight under a not-so-ideal backdrop of orange chairs that dotted the stands, taking close to an unbelievable 200 catches. And that too, the night before a Test match. Shubman Gill, who was looking on from a distance, eventually got so tired of watching that he too decided to join in the fun," he added.

Sridhar then went on to shed light on Kohli’s lesson for Shubman Gill and said, “Virat smiled at him cheekily and said, ‘I am giving you 10 years in age, young man. The least you can do is take a few catches yourself.’ The session only ended when, in exasperation, the manager came out to inform him that the rest of the squad was ready and good to go and that the team bus was leaving for the hotel in 10 minutes."