Shubman Gill
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Shubman Gill (born September 8, 1999, Fazilka, Punjab, India) is an Indian cricketer who bats right-handed and as of February 2026 is the fastest male batter to score 2,000 runs in the One Day International (ODI; 50 overs a side) format. Considered a prodigy, he was named the Player of the Series when India won the 2018 International Cricket Council (ICC) Under-19 Men’s ODI World Cup. In 2025 Gill was appointed captain of the Test and ODI squads and broke legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 49 years by becoming the youngest Indian captain to win a Test match overseas, reaching the milestone at the age of 25 years and 301 days.
- Also called: Prince of Indian Cricket
- Born: September 8, 1999, Fazilka, Punjab, India
- Occupation: Cricketer (right-hand batter)
- Playing career: 2019–
- Notable teams: Indian national team (2019– ), Kolkata Knight Riders (2018–21), Gujarat Titans (2021– )
- Awards and honors: ICC Under-19 World Cup Player of the Tournament (2018), IPL Emerging Player of the Tournament (2019), IPL Orange Cap (2023)
Early life and domestic career
- List A cricket: A formal classification of limited-overs (one-day) matches in cricket; these games are designed to be completed in a single day, with each team batting for a set number of overs (commonly 40–60 overs per side), and include major domestic one-day competitions as well as matches below the ODI level.
- A team: A second-tier national squad composed of players who are strong contenders but are not yet regulars in the first team; this squad is used mainly for development tours and competitive matches where experience and exposure are important.
- B team: Typically representing the next tier down after the A team, this squad often includes emerging talents and fringe players gaining experience below the A team.
- C team: Generally consisting of players further down the selection order—still under assessment or in developmental stages—this team is often seen in competitions involving multiple squads of different tiers.
Gill spent his early years in Fazilka, a district in Punjab state, close to India’s border with Pakistan. His father, Lakhwinder Singh Gill, a farmer who had aspired to be a cricketer himself, became Shubman Gill’s first coach and trained him from a young age. Gill’s mother, Keart Gill, is a homemaker. In 2007 the family moved to Mohali, a city in Punjab, which allowed Gill access to better cricket facilities and coaches.
When Gill was about 11, he caught the eye of Karsan Ghavri, a former Indian cricketer who was conducting a fast bowlers’ training camp in Mohali and struggling to find quality batters to face the bowlers for practice. At a small ground adjacent to the training facility, Ghavri spotted the young Gill playing tennis ball cricket with remarkable technique. Struck by the boy’s natural ability and technical precision, Ghavri immediately arranged for Gill to face state-level fast bowlers in training sessions. He also urged the Punjab Cricket Association to induct Gill into its under-14 squad.
In 2014 Gill hit 351 runs in a single innings in an interdistrict U-16 match in Punjab and followed it up with a double century in his first interstate U-16 match for Punjab in the Vijay Merchant Trophy. He was named the best junior cricketer by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for two consecutive seasons, in 2013–14 and 2014–15.
Gill made his List A debut in February 2017 in a match against Vidarbha, scoring only 11 runs. In his second career match, which was against Assam, he scored his first List A hundred. During his first-class debut in a Ranji Trophy match against Bengal in November of the same year, he scored a half-century, although Punjab lost the match.
Gill was included in the India C team for the 2018 Deodhar Trophy (annual domestic List A competition). He captained the India Blue team in the 2019 Duleep Trophy (domestic first-class tournament) and the India C team for the Deodhar Trophy the same year, breaking Virat Kohli’s record as the youngest captain in the competition.
International career
Youth career and ODIs
Gill made his first youth international appearance in the 2016 U-19 Asia Cup, finishing as the second highest run-scorer in the tournament, which India won. He was the vice-captain of the Indian team for the 2018 U-19 ODI World Cup and won the Player of the Tournament award, helping India win the title.
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Gill was soon promoted to the senior team and made his international ODI debut in a defeat against New Zealand in January 2019. He scored his first ODI hundred in August 2022 against Zimbabwe during his ninth innings in the format. In January 2023 Gill scored an ODI double century in a match against New Zealand, becoming the youngest at the time to achieve the milestone. He scored five centuries and became the leading run-scorer with 1,584 runs in ODIs that year. Gill became the fastest male batter to reach 2,000 ODI career runs during the 2023 ODI World Cup and played a key role in India’s run to the final, which the team lost to Australia. In 2025 Gill topped the ICC’s ODI batters rankings chart and succeeded Rohit Sharma as captain of the Indian ODI team.
In September 2026 Gill scored consecutive centuries in the first two matches of India’s home ODI series against the West Indies. He made 110 runs in the opening match, and in the second game his unbeaten 223 runs from 133 balls helped India chase down a target of 406 runs. Gill’s knock was the highest individual score by any batter in a successful ODI run chase. Gill and Rohit Sharma’s opening partnership of 255 runs in the same match was India’s highest partnership on home soil in the format. Gill was subsequently named ICC Men’s Player of the Month.
Tests
Gill was included in the Test squad several times in 2019 and 2020 but was not chosen for the final playing XI. His Test debut came in the second match of India’s 2020–21 Test series in Australia, on the back of a low point where the visitors lost the opening match after being bowled out for 36. He scored 45 and 35 as India won the second match to level the series. Gill scored his first Test half-century in the third Test, which India drew, and top-scored with 91 during a successful fourth-innings chase in the fourth Test, enabling India to win the series 2–1 against all odds.
In 2021 Gill, now a regular in the senior Test team, was a part of the Indian squad that beat England 3–1 at home and lost the World Test Championship final to New Zealand. He scored his first Test hundred in December 2022. In 2023 he was part of the Indian Test team that lost the second World Test Championship final to Australia.
Gill was the captain of India’s Test squad in 2025, and in June that year he scored a century in his first match in charge of the team, during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy (formerly the Pataudi Trophy) series in England. He rose to even greater heights with scores of 269 and 161 in the first and second innings of the second Test, respectively. Gill’s first-innings score broke the record for the highest Test score by an Indian captain and was the highest score by an Indian in a Test played outside Asia. He also recorded the second highest match aggregate score in Test history (430 runs), behind only Graham Gooch.
The series ended in a 2–2 draw, with Gill finishing as the leading run-scorer with 754 runs, including four centuries. He became only the third cricketer, joining legendary batters Don Bradman and Sunil Gavaskar, to have scored four hundreds in a bilateral Test series while serving as captain. Gill scored 983 runs in nine Tests with a batting average of 70.21 in 2025.
During South Africa’s tour of India in November 2025, Gill suffered a neck injury while batting in the first Test in Kolkata and took no further part in the series, which the visiting team won 2–0. In 2026 Gill led India to a record victory in a one-off Test against Afghanistan and won a two-Test series against Sri Lanka with a 1–0 margin.
Twenty20 Internationals (T20I)
India’s 15-member squad for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup did not include Shubman Gill, the Indian team’s captain for Tests and One Day Internationals.
Gill made his Twenty20I debut for India against Sri Lanka in January 2023. In February 2023 he scored his first T20I hundred, becoming only the fifth Indian batter to score centuries in all three cricket formats. Gill did not feature in India’s final squad that won the Men’s T20 World Cup in 2024. However, he was named as captain of the Indian T20I squad for the first bilateral series after the tournament and led India to a 4–1 win against Zimbabwe. Gill was not in the Indian squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. India went on to retain the title, defeating New Zealand by 96 runs in the final and becoming the first team to win consecutive editions of the men’s tournament.
Indian Premier League career
Gill was signed by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the 2018 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for 1.8 crore rupees ($280,000 at the time). In his second season with the franchise in 2019, he scored 296 runs with three half-centuries and was named the Emerging Player of the Tournament. He was the top scorer for KKR in the 2020 and 2021 seasons and in the latter helped the team reach the final, where they lost to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Gill was not retained by KKR after the 2021 season and was picked by the Gujarat Titans (GT), one of two new teams created that year, ahead of the auction for IPL 2022. GT signed Gill on a contract worth 8 crore rupees (about $1 million at the time). Gill scored 483 runs for GT to become the fifth highest run-scorer that season and helped the franchise advance through the playoffs all the way to the final. He scored a match-winning unbeaten 45 in the final against the Rajasthan Royals (RR), and GT became the IPL champion in its debut season. During IPL 2023 he scored a mammoth 890 runs, which included three centuries, and won the Orange Cap, awarded to the highest run-getter in a season. His innings of 129 in only 60 balls during the playoffs became the highest individual score of the season. GT reached the final for the second year in a row, which it lost to CSK.
Gill was appointed captain of GT for IPL 2024 and scored 426 runs during the season. The franchise failed to advance to the playoffs for the first time in its history and finished in eighth place. In 2025 Gill scored 650 runs and led GT to the eliminator round of the playoffs, which the team lost to the Mumbai Indians.
Gill remained captain of GT in IPL 2026 and finished the season with 732 runs, the second highest aggregate among batters in the tournament. During a knockout-phase match he scored 104 from 53 balls as GT successfully chased 215 against RR to reach the final. GT lost the championship match to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 5 wickets, giving Gill his second runner-up finish with the franchise.