"Ravi Shastri was like, ek tayaar player mil gaya humein" - Sanjay Bangar recalls star batter's first net session for India

Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar recalled the first-ever net session of Shubman Gill for the national senior team and revealed that he made a big impact on then-head coach Ravi Shastri. Bangar stated that the right-handed batter played some excellent strokes during the net session.

Gill top-scored with 87 off 96 in the first ODI against England at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6. He struck 14 fours in his sublime knock as India chased down a target of 249 in 47.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

In a video on Star Sports, Bangar recalled how Gill's talent was very much on display in his very first net session with the senior Indian side. The former India all-rounder commented (as quoted by news agency ANI):

"The first glimpse of Shubman Gill we had during his first net session for India, there is a tradition in India that during the nets session, if you want that approval, you will have to do well against throwdown specialists, who bowl really fast.

"And unhone uss nets session mein, jo ek screen test hota haina, aise patakhe bajaye the (during that session, which is a screen test of sorts, he produced such incredible shots). Ravi Shastri was like, ek tayaar player mil gaya humein (we have got a ready-made player). Such was his first impact," the 52-year-old added.

Gill was named the Player of the Match for his half-century in the first ODI against England in Nagpur, which helped India recover from 19-2. He was a involved in a 94-run stand for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer (59 off 36) and added 108 runs for the fourth wicket with all-rounder Axar Patel (52 off 47).

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Shubman Gill's stats for India across formats

Gill rose to prominence during the 2018 U-19 World Cup, where he scored 372 runs in six matches as India won the title. He soon made his international debut and has represented the country in 101 matches across the three formats, scoring 4,886 runs at an average of 42.85, with 12 hundreds and 24 fifties.

The 25-year-old has featured in 48 ODIs and has notched up 2,415 runs at an average of 58.90 and a strike rate of 101.30, with six tons and 14 half-centuries. In T20Is, he has 578 runs in 21 matches at a strike rate of 139.27. Gill's Test numbers are comparatively underwhelming. In 32 matches, he has 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05, with five hundreds and seven fifties.