Shubman Gill, the Player of the tournament in the recently concluded 2018 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, said that he doesn’t try and copy anyone. The right-handed top order batsman provided the important impact for securing his team to win the tournament for the record fourth time.

Shubman Gill was the second most runs scorer in the recently concluded 2018 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup. With the average of 124, Gill scored total 372 runs including an unbeaten century against Pakistan (102*) in the semi-final and three half-centuries. Due to his outstanding performances, he was selected for the Player of the tournament in that tournament.

Though his cricketing idols are Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, Gill said that he never tries and copies anybody. According to a recent article in Sportstarlive, Gill said, “I don’t try and copy anybody. But when I am trying to execute a few shots it sometimes comes automatically. Over a period it becomes part of your muscle memory. But I don’t practise such kind of shots [like those of Kohli].”

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The 2018 IPL Auction took place during that youth World Cup tournament, where the 18-year old was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 1.8 crores. Talking about that auction, Gill said, “We were not really stressed. But some players got selected and some didn’t. So it was like [awkward]. At that time sir [Rahul Dravid] really wanted us to focus on the World Cup. The time difference also helped because when the auction ended it was late in the night [in New Zealand] and we had all slept.”

After the U-19 WC, Gill is now busy with domestic team Punjab in the Vijay Hazare trophy. After playing three consecutive cheap innings, Gill hit a brilliant century (123*) against Karnataka where his team clinched an important narrow victory.

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Speaking about his recent century for Punjab, Gill commented, “It was important for me to forget the last three innings. I didn’t play well and got out to some bad shots. Here I had that belief that if I stay for around 10 overs, I can score more after that. I just wanted to bat till the end. That was the only thing on my mind.”

Gill also explained that how he is developing his batting ability to play the long innings. He said, “It’s over a period of time that I have developed those qualities. If I am set, I don’t try and play fancy shots and get out. In Vijay Hazare, with the match starting at 9 a.m., it is important to see off the pacers and score off the spinners. So I have practised stepping down the wicket to spinners.”