IND vs ENG: Shubman Gill bows to his father after smashing 4th Test Century

In the fourth over of the morning session, Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle were discussing the feelings of the India batter’s father as Shubman Gill walked towards James Anderson to dispatch him for a straight six in an utter display of disdain for the bowler, who is two wickets shy of becoming the first pacer to take 700 Test wickets. Shubman’s father, Lakhwinder Singh, sat in the stands at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, witnessing his son’s bold strokeplay against every English bowler in the fifth and final Test of the series.

The cameras were unable to capture Lakhwinder’s emotion at the time, but they did not miss the opportunity to turn towards him when Shubman Gill reached his half-century a few minutes later, followed by his century at the stroke of lunch on Day 2.
For the first time, he kept a straight face and clapped, not particularly enthusiastically. But as Gill sped to his century with a four off Shoaib Bashir, even his tough-talking father had to give up. Lakhwinder was on his feet. His fists were clasped, arms up in the air, and moving rhythmically. The face, still without a grin, was beaming with pride. Who says smiling is the only way to express happiness?

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Gill took off his helmet and bowed. He usually does it after reaching a century, but this time it meant everything to his father.

Gill’s first coach, was his dad who was also a serious cricketer in his earlier days and is fairly tough. When he couldn’t convert his century in the second Test into a huge one, he was concerned that his father would pull him up when he arrived at the hotel.

This has always been the case for Gill. When he fails to turn his initial investment into anything serious, he receives education from his father. After winning the Playing of the Series against Zimbabwe in 2022, he disclosed his father’s harsh remarks about throwing his wicket away in the second match despite being set.

“My father has been my primary coach. I got a bit of schooling the day before yesterday when I was out for 33. So this one is for my dad,” Gill had said.