• India legend Sunil Gavaskar has given young opener Shumban Gill a nickname.

  • Gill smashed an unbeaten 40 in the second ODI against New Zealand in Raipur.

Sunil Gavaskar comes up with a nickname for Shubman Gill; the young opener gives a heartfelt reaction
Sunil Gavaskar, Shubman Gill (Image Source: Twitter)

Team India’s young batting sensation Shubman Gill is having a remarkable form with the bat, especially in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs). In the past few months, Gill has taken his game to the next level and has impressed one and all with his superb consistency.

Gill is considered one of the most promising young cricketers and a key player for India in the future due to his solid technique and ability to score runs in all conditions. The Punjab cricketer is currently playing in the ongoing three-match ODI series against New Zealand and has grabbed everyone’s attention after smashing a double century and unbeaten 40* in the first two games, which helped the Men in Blue capture the series. Not only this, but in the preceding ODI leg against Sri Lanka, the right-handed batter had slammed a hundred as well.

Seeing Gill’s outstanding hitting capabilities, former India captain and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar has now become the latest fan of the young opener as he came up with a nickname for Gill. Following the second ODI at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur on January 21, Gavaskar called the 23-year-old ‘Smoothman Gill’ as the Mumbaikar was speaking about how Gill was batting smoothly at the top of the order.

Gill also reacted to Gavaskar giving him a nickname, as the Fazilka-born looked slightly embarrassed to hear the words of praise from the legendary cricketer.

“I have given you a new nickname, Smoothman Gill. I hope you don’t mind,” Gavaskar told Gill on Star Sports during the post-match interview. To which the young Indian opener replied with a smile and said: “I don’t mind at all, sir.”

Notably, after the match, Gill revealed that it’s always a dream while batting with Rohit Sharma before mentioning how he and Ishan Kishan spend time together and are best buddies.

“It’s always a dream to bat with Rohit bhai, have learnt a lot batting along with him. Me and Ishan Kishan) are best mates, we spend a lot of time off-field together, it was great to spend some time batting together,” Gill had said after the second ODI.

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