Shubman Gill has finally completed his recovery at the BCCI Centre of Excellence and is all set to make a return to the shortest format of the game for India.
He has aced his final set of skills and fitness training and is all set to feature for India in Cuttack.
Indian captain Shubman Gill struggled with a neck spasm after he came to play for India in the first Test at Eden Gardens. He missed the second Test of the series and also the ODI series following it. He is set to make a comeback in the T20I series.
Shubman Gill has completed his recovery and has been picked in the T20I squad for India against South Africa. The series begins on the 9th of December in Cuttack. This will be the first time since the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 final that India and South Africa will clash against each other.
“You can’t ask for better facilities as an athlete,” opined Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill has confirmed his recovery and has completed all the fitness drills ahead of his return to the field for India.
“I am feeling much better. I think the day I came here, from that day till today, I have had quite a bit of skill sessions and some training sessions, so I feel much better now,” said Gill in a video shared by BCCI.
He has reflected on how the world-class facilities at the CoE went on to shape his formative years, and how the facilities can easily be the best an athlete deserves.
“From recovery to training, I think for an athlete, it can’t get any better, you know. It is a paradise for any athlete who wants to get physically and mentally better. I mean, you can’t ask for better facilities. We have the Oxygen chamber; there’s cryo there, and some of the things that I’ve used for the recovery have been pretty amazing for me.”
“What stood out for me was that there were so many machines that I didn’t know how to use. That itself tells you how big the facility is,” he added.
“We used to be in awe of players who went to the NCA,” Shubman Gill reminisces about his times from the U-16 days
The Indian vice-captain also reminisced about his time from the U-14 and U-16 days, when Shubman Gill stood in awe of players who made it to the National Cricket Academy.
“Playing Under-14 and Under-16, you know, we used to have a thing among us where we used to be like someone had been to the NCA and come back. ing that player, we used to be in awe of that thing.
“If you play the finals of the Under-16 games, then we play around 7-8 games. Out of the 200 or more players who play this edition of the game, hardly 25-30 players make it to the NCA, and it used to be a very big thing,” Shubman Gill remembered.
Shubman Gill explains how the CoE elevates the skillset in players
The CoE already has several facilities to enhance the skillset of the cricketers, and moreover, Gill has opined that players who actually intend to elevate their status in the game should come and work closely with the coaches at the CoE.
“When you are coming here, you know you are kind of the cream of the crop. So you know you have the skill set to be able to reach the skill set and make use of the facility, and you know how I can go to the next level physically.”
“You have got all the coaches to work with here, and you’ve got all the trainers and all the physios here. But how willing are you to work on yourself from that aspect, is gonna take you up that notch from the rest of the players,” he concluded.