Passing on the baton: Will Shubman Gill take on the mantle from Kohli?

Like Sachin Tendulkar passed the baton of batsmanship to Virat Kohli, a new successor has emerged. This time, the emerging prince of Indian cricket hails from a remote village, not from a metro city

More often than not, batsmanship in Indian cricket is passed on to the next generation. It happened when Sachin Tendulkar became Sunil Gavaskar's protégé. Both are Mumbai batters, different in style but perfect in their own right with the bat - both having the zeal to conquer the 22 yards and captivate millions of fans.

With Virat Kohli breaking Tendulkar's record for most centuries in One Day Internationals (ODIs), videos of the 2011 World Cup final are going viral on various social media platforms. These videos show Kohli crossing over Tendulkar at the boundary after Tendulkar was dismissed.

Even though it seems Kohli is not retiring soon, Shubman Gill crossing over Kohli while heading to the crease is also trending online. One can rightly say that the moment is here - another World Cup and a star in the making. It would undoubtedly mark the passing of batsmanship to the next generation, given how Shubman started his international career and his eagerness to conquer the world. 

Check World Cup 2023 India vs Australia final live score and match updates here

 

However, there is a stark difference between the two. Sachin and Virat come from metropolitan areas, while Shubman hails from a remote village in Punjab, Chak Khere wala, in Jalalabad.

The rise of Shubman showcases how families in remote Indian villages are encouraging their children to take up the sport. Chak Kherewala is a village in the Jalalabad area of Punjab, just 8 kilometres from the Pakistan border.

Fitness enthusiasts: Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill

While Kohli's dedication to remaining fit at the highest level has been Shubman's motivation, he has also observed this since his childhood at home, picking up the habit of remaining fit from his grandfather, Didar Singh. At 86, Singh goes for a 3-4 kilometre morning walk every day.

"When I was his age, I used to run 10 kilometres, do 300 sit-ups, and I was a well-known Kabaddi player. The secret was drinking 3 kilograms of milk and consuming half a dozen bananas daily. Shubh followed the same diet routine for many years. I am 86 now, and I still go for a walk for at least 3 to 4 kilometres every day," says Singh, while resting on his cot and enjoying his grandson's cricket videos on Facebook in Chak Kherewala.

Drawing a comparison with Kohli's childhood eating habits, Shubman also likes a Punjabi recipe called choori which is rich in carbohydrates and highly fatty. Choori is prepared by crushing sweet corn rotis fried in ghee. His grandmother, Gurmail Kaur, narrates that Shubman would beg her to prepare choori every day and eat it with almost 250 millilitres of butter with relish.

Shubman's connection to his roots

Shubman Gill was the only Indian cricketer who unequivocally supported the farmers' protest against the central government's new farm laws. This was during the period when farmers from Punjab and Haryana were camped at the Delhi border for almost a year. The opinions were divided, but Gill, who was playing in Australia at the time, posted a story in support of the farmers on his Instagram handle.

His grandfather mentioned that he, too, joined the farmers at the Singhu border but only for two or three days due to his poor health at that time.

Can Shubman Gill's superstar image inspire the new generation to stop drug use?

While Kohli's fitness-focused attitude inspired many young people to hit the gym, Shubman's cricketing prowess could inspire youngsters to abstain from drugs. A taxi driver, Malkeet Singh, from Jalalabad, mentioned that in two years, there might not be enough young men in Punjab to marry girls, attributing this to the state's drug crisis.