Shubman Gill Called & Took Advise From Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Smith And Kane Williamson Before Record-Breaking England Tour | Cricket News

(From left) Steve Smith, Shubman Gill, Sachin Tendulkar, Kane Williamson (Agencies)

Before embarking on the tour of England, Shubman Gill knew there was a minor flaw in his batting technique that needed to be addressed. It was a chink in his armory that had troubled him consistently, resulting in frustrating dismissals – a slow transfer of weight onto the front that cracked opened a fatal gap between bat and pad.

It wasn’t something that had creeped up in his game recently. Considering the success Gill had tasted despite that minor flaw, it wasn’t tended to. However, ahead of the England tour, the rising star new that it needs fixing if he has ambitions of becoming the best batter on tour.

So began the work behind the scenes in the nets as he began working on his technique during IPL 2025. However, there was an air of uncertainty on his mind.

According to timesofindia.com, Gill had doubts whether the significant tweak will bring success or result in a disaster. The impact of success or failure would have multiplied by leaps and bounds since Gill was also to make his Test captaincy debut in England.

Amid this, Gill turned to three legends of the game: Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson and each offered a unique perspective which the 25-year-old absorbed and put to good use in England where he ended up breaking several batting records.

Sachin Tendulkar’s Guru Mantra To Shubman Gill

As per the publication, Gill was a bundle of nerves before speaking to the Tendulkar, widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to have played the game. The master calmed him down before advising him ensure his bat faced mid-off which would help him avoid dragging the ball onto the stumps and instead send the ball towards square leg region.

And for Gill, was extremely sure that if Tendulkar has pointed out an error in his technique, it must be right. So he began sweating it out in the nets to fix the flaw.

What Steve Smith’s Told Shubman Gill

From Smith, the advice was more about mental aspect and the length that England pacer will look to bowl to Gill. He told Gill to shadow practice and build muscle memory prior to reworking his technique.

Kane Williamson’s Advise To Shubman Gill

The New Zealand maestro told Gill to play close to the body, not go for drives, be patient for 45 minutes and then dig in.

The Result

The word of wisdom from the three legends did wonders for Gill. He went on to rack up a mammoth 754 runs across the five-match Test series which ended in a 2-2 draw. At one stage, Gill was even in the reckoning for breaking Don Bradman’s all-time record of 974 runs in a Test series.

Gill’s 754 is the highest by an Indian captain in a Test series. It’s also the most by any skipper in an India-England series.