The former India cricketer, Karsan Ghavri has gone on to back Shubman Gill, already being on track to be India's next big batting great, following the path of legendary names like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar. This comes after his sensational performance against England in the Birmingham Test.
00:02India winning the Birmingham Test in Ed Baxton to go one-all with England in that big series.
00:09But the man of the moment is Shubman Gill, the Indian captain who broke almost all kinds of records
00:15while totaling a mammoth 430 runs across two innings, a double century and 150 being achieved
00:23for the first time in the history of Test cricket.
00:25At the age of 25, Shubman Gill is already the new star of Indian cricket.
00:32Now a star is born, but a star is born because over several years, he's mentored and guided
00:38by different people, some of whom discover his talents at an early age.
00:43Well, I'm joined today by a very special guest.
00:46Karsan Ghavari was an all-round player who played for India in the 1970s and early 80s.
00:52And he discovered, if I may say so, Shubman Gill's talent when he was just 11 or 12 years old.
00:59Karsan Ghavari, I appreciate your joining us.
01:01I'm told that you were doing a fast bowlers camp in Mohali many years ago.
01:06Shubman was just 11 years old and you suddenly discovered him when you saw him batting with a tennis ball.
01:12What was it about Shubman that as 11-year-old and 12-year-old excited you so much that you asked the Punjab cricket authorities
01:20to immediately induct them into the under-15 team?
01:23Well, Rajdeep, thanks very much for having me this evening.
01:32And I'm very glad to talk to you and talk about Shubman Gill.
01:37Well, the reality goes like that.
01:42Around 2000 and 2001, we had a camp organized by the BCCI and NCA for fast bowlers only.
01:54And we had limited fast bowlers around 17-18 from all over India.
02:01And we having our, you know, trainings, practice and bowling and everything, the drills were on.
02:09But we had no batsmen to bat against our fast bowlers.
02:16So, that's the time I requested, you know, Mr. Sisul Kapoor and Mr. Pandav, who was the president at that time,
02:23to send, you know, some under-16, under-19, good batsmen to face our bowlers.
02:33And we had a camp of fast bowlers for, you know, like one month camp for under-16,
02:41another camp, you know, for under-19, another camp, you know, for under-23.
02:45That's the time when we were having the first camp of under-16.
02:51And one day, we were just practicing, you know, outdoor at Moholy.
02:58And it started raining.
03:01So, naturally, you know, we never wanted to take any risk of our young fast bowlers.
03:08While bowling, you know, gets, you know, slipped, you know, while delivering or going through the follow-through and all that.
03:17So, we stopped practice.
03:20And we gave the rest, you know, to all our boys.
03:23Because indoors, you know, at that time was not available because some work was going on at Punjab Cricket Association.
03:31So, we called it off.
03:35And myself and Yogendra Puri, who was my assistant coach, and it was not a heavy rain as such.
03:44It was just drizzling.
03:46And we never took a chance, you know, for our young fast bowler to get injured or something like that.
03:52So, we called it off.
03:55And we went, you know, just across the road.
03:57But there is another small ground outside, you know, Moholy Stadium.
04:04That's where, you know, a lot of boys were playing, you know, cricket in the rain.
04:09And one boy in a match, I mean, I don't know whether it was a match or they were practicing.
04:17But, you know, one guy, young guy was playing so correctly, technically, and the way he was striking the ball.
04:27You know, I thought, you know, this guy has got a lot of, you know, fire, a lot of spark.
04:33And, you know, I just asked my assistant coach, you know, Yogi.
04:50Yogi Square, we call us under 16 for practice.
04:56So, he said, sir, but we have to take permission from PCA and all that.
05:01I said, that can be done.
05:03So, we were just, you know, walking back.
05:06At the boundary line, you know, there was only one gentleman who was just, you know, waiting.
05:14And in the rain, I asked him, I said, sir, do you know the boy who's batting right now, who's that?
05:25He said, he's my son.
05:28I said, what's his name?
05:29He said, Sri Ram Gill.
05:31And his father, Sukhinder, Sukhinder Singh, he said, he's my son.
05:35I said, you know, please, you know, from tomorrow onwards, ask him to come and join our nets and play our fast bowlers in the nets or either in the nets or in the indoors.
05:52And by a couple of days' time, you know, indoors were all set already.
05:58So, very religiously, you know, he started practicing with our boys.
06:03You're telling me at the age of 11 and 12, Shubhman Gill already had something special.
06:09What was that special?
06:10Was it his technique?
06:11What was it that stood out for you?
06:13Very, very special.
06:14What was that special quality?
06:17Well, you know, his technique and his, you know, correct, you know, way of playing shots.
06:28And that's really struck, you know, with me.
06:31But all these years later, we invited him and, you know, religiously.
06:37Right.
06:39But all these years later, Karsan Bhai, did you think he would become as good as he has become?
06:44You saw, you've seen the great Sunil Gavaskar, you've seen Virat Kohli, you've seen Sachin Tendulkar.
06:49Is Shubhman Gill going to be the next great Indian batsman?
06:55Oh, yes.
06:56I mean, he has got all the potential.
06:58He has got all the talent.
07:00And, you know, halfway through, he has already proved it.
07:04And, you know, I don't think, you know, if he plays another 10, 12, 15 years, he will break many records.
07:13And I'm very sure about it.
07:17See, records are to be broken.
07:21And, you know, somebody so dedicated like, you know, Virat Kohli or Rohi Sharma or, you know, now, you know, Subhan Gill, you know, these are the guys, you know, who can do it.
07:33And even if he does, when he does it, at the end of his career, I will not be surprised.
07:41Okay.
07:42I'm going to leave it there.
07:43Karsan Gavri, you've seen all these greats yourself at close quarters.
07:46You're saying you won't be surprised if Shubhman Gill breaks even more records than many of the greats you've watched.
07:54But for a cricketer who spotted him at 11 and 12, thank you very much for that contribution to Indian cricket.
08:00You've contributed, of course, on the field.
08:02Well, Radhev, one more thing I really want to thank, not the Gill family, but, you know, the people who gave him the opportunities.
08:19I personally must thank Mr. Pandava and Mr. Sushil Kapoor, you know, when he was 12 years old.
08:26And he was, Punjab Cricket Association, he was never in the picture.
08:33I insisted, you know, to these two gentlemen, I said, please put him in, in under 14 team.
08:41And he, he might do wonders, but, and they did, they listened to me, they did that.
08:49And he was included in, in 14 teams with the Punjab Cricket Association, under 14 team.
08:55And since then, he started playing, you know, for them.
09:01And after 14, the rest, the rest, as I would say, since then, the rest, I would say, he has never looked back.
09:09That's right.
09:09The rest, as I would say, is history.
09:11Karsan Gavri for joining us and telling us that wonderful story.
