Sanjay Bangar Reveals How Shubman Gill Impressed Everyone In First Net Session

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar opened up on Shubman Gill's first net session impact in the national team. He was recently named as the captain of the test side after Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from the longest format, and there are reports that soon he will be appointed as the captain of the team in all formats.

However, after years of his debut, Bangar stated how Gill left a very strong remark on senior teammates and coaching staff when he made his debut in international cricket in 2019, with Virat Kohli being the captain, Ravi Shastri as the coach, and MS Dhoni still in the squad.

Bangar said,

"It was his first session, and he walked out to bat in the nets. Ravi Shastri was the head coach, the captain was Virat Kohli, and MS Dhoni was still in the team. We were preparing for the 2019 ODI World Cup."

"Thoda sa off-stump ke bahar hai toh cut maare. Thoda sa short de do toh pull maare. Dusra net band ho gaya, inka hi net chal raha, and sab dekh rahe hai ki ye kya hai. (If the ball was a little outside off-stump, he cut it. If it was slightly short, he pulled it. The other nets stopped; only his net was going on, and everyone was watching in amazement, wondering what this was."

Further, Bangar mentioned that former head coach Ravi Shastri was also quite impressed with Gill's net session and how he was so keen to get a place in the Playing XI.

He said,

"Coach Ravi Shastri was so impressed that he wanted to put him in the Playing XI. Isko abhi khila do (Play him now). He left that kind of imprint in his first net session itself, and we realized then that this boy was special."

The 26-year-old made his international debut against New Zealand in the fourth ODI but failed to make an impact in the two ODIs he played and went back to the pavilion, scoring 9 and 7 runs. He emerged as an excellent batter in ODI from the year 2022, with the West Indies tour to now becoming the No. 1 in ICC Rankings.