Shubman Gill surprised new Gujarat Titans recruit Robin Minz’s father, Francis, at the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi at the end of the Test against England.
Francis is a retired Army personnel, who works as a security official at the airport, and Gill’s heart-warming and unpretentious gesture took him by surprise. Be it on
the field or off it, the Titans captain’s middle-class values have always been reflected in his approach, his stardom notwithstanding.
A day earlier, his match-winning innings had fetched India the series against England but he didn’t miss an opportunity to meet one of his teammate’s dad on learning about it. Perhaps cricket had taught him to remain unruffled and never get swayed by success.
Gill knows how it feels when the chips are down. He had gone through 12 innings without a half-century and had been told in no uncertain terms by the national selectors that he would be dropped if he didn’t make a significant contribution in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
He failed in the first innings and was staring at an uncertain future when he walked to the crease in the second essay. India struggled on a dodgy wicket but Gill produced a career-saving century which evoked a “weird” feeling.
“I will sum it up in one line. My heartbeat playing the first ball and the last ball was the same throughout the innings,” Gill had said. “That’s how nervous I was feeling even after scoring my hundred… It was quite weird for me.