Shubman Gill has risen through the ranks of international cricket faster than almost anyone else. Gill was born on September 8, 1999, in the dusty fields of Fazilka, Punjab. He is now India’s most important player in all formats. He used to be a prodigious talent. He is only 26 years old and is the captain of the Test and ODI teams. He has also led the T20I teams and the Gujarat Titans in the IPL. People have compared him to great players because of his smooth right-handed strokeplay and calm demeanor. As of October 2025, Gill has scored an impressive 6,070 runs in all formats, including 18 centuries. This makes him one of the best batters in the world.
Early Life: Growing Up in the Fields of Punjab
Shubman Gill’s story is one of hard work and fate. Gill grew up in the village of Chak Jaimal Singh Wala, where his father Lakhwinder Singh was a farmer who had unfulfilled cricketing dreams. Gill picked up a bat when he was three years old. His father saw the spark in him and bowled him 500 to 700 times a day, which built his strength. In 2007, the family moved to Mohali so they could get to the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium. Shahneel, his older sister, was with him.
Gill’s early brilliance showed. He impressed former India pacer Karsan Ghavri when he was 12 and got a spot on Punjab’s Under-14 team. Abhishek Sharma, a childhood friend, teamed up with him to set a record for the most runs scored in an Under-16 match, where Gill scored 351. He scored a double century in his first game in the Vijay Merchant Trophy when he was 14. He won the BCCI Best Junior Cricketer award in 2013–14 and again in 2014–15, which set the stage for his rise to fame around the world.
Journey in the IPL and at home: From Debuts to Dominance
Gill’s big break in domestic cricket came in the 2016–17 Vijay Hazare Trophy, when he scored his first List A century (121 off 129) against Assam. He made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2017, scoring 50 runs against Bengal and then 129 runs against Services. He became Punjab’s top scorer in the 2018-19 season with 728 runs, and by December 2018, he had scored a first-class double-ton (268 runs against Tamil Nadu).
The IPL made him famous. The Kolkata Knight Riders bought Gill for ₹1.8 crore in 2018, during the U-19 World Cup. He made his debut that season with 203 runs. He had his best seasons with KKR in 2020 and 2021, when he scored 440 and 478 runs, respectively. He won the Emerging Player award in 2019.
Gill made history when he was drafted to the Gujarat Titans for ₹8 crore in 2022. In their first year in the IPL, he scored 483 runs to help GT win the title. The 2023 season was legendary: 890 runs (winner of the Orange Cap), three centuries (the second-most in a season), and a playoff record 129 off 60 in Qualifier 2. After Hardik Pandya left in 2024, he was named GT captain and led them to the playoffs. Gill’s IPL legacy is a mix of style and leadership; he was bought back for ₹16.50 crore in the 2025 auction.
International Stardom: Important Events and Lessons
Gill’s journey around the world began at the 2018 U-19 World Cup, where he was the vice-captain and scored 372 runs at an average of 124, winning Player of the Tournament. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sourav Ganguly all praised his unbeaten 102 in the semi-final against Pakistan, which helped India win their fourth title.
In January 2019, he made his ODI debut against New Zealand (7 off 18). Gill’s big break came in 2022 when he scored his first hundred (130 off 97) against Zimbabwe. In 2023, he scored a double-century (208 off 149) against New Zealand, making him the youngest player to do so at 23 and the fifth Indian to do so. He is the fastest to 2,000 runs (38 innings) and 2,500 runs (50 innings) in ODIs. He scored 354 runs (four fifties) in the 2023 World Cup, even though India lost in the end.
Gill made his Test debut in 2020 in Melbourne. His 91 at The Gabba sealed India’s historic series win over Australia. In 2022, he scored his first Test century (110) against Bangladesh. After Rohit Sharma retired in 2025, Gill became the Test captain for the tour of England. He scored an unbeaten 147 on his first Test match (making him the fifth Indian captain to score a century on his debut) and a record-breaking 269 in the second Test, which was the highest score by an Indian captain. He scored 430 runs there, which is the second most in a Test match. He had two scores of 150 or more, which is something only Allan Border has done.
He made his T20I debut in 2023 and scored his first century (126* off 63 against New Zealand). He is the fifth Indian to score tons in all formats. In 2024, he led India to a 4-1 T20I win over Zimbabwe as captain.
Gill was the vice-captain of the team that won the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy. He scored an unbeaten 101 against Bangladesh to help India win the trophy. He finished the year with a series against the West Indies, where he scored fifties in both Tests.
A history of success: records and awards
Gill’s mantle is full of accomplishments: he scored the most runs in a single IPL season (890, 2023), the second-most centuries in a single IPL season (3, 2023), and the fourth Indian captain to score centuries in three straight Tests against England. He is the first man to win four ICC Player of the Month awards (January/September 2023, February/July 2025) and was named to the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2023. He has 18 international tons, which is the most of any active Indian under 30. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the ICC ODI rankings with 784 points.
Personal Life: Outside the Box
Gill is down-to-earth but also adventurous when he’s not on the field. He is a family man who posts pictures of his travels and Sikh heritage on social media. People said he was dating Sara Tendulkar and Sara Ali Khan, but he hasn’t said anything. For Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), he voiced Spider-Man India (Pavitr Prabhakar) in Hindi and Punjabi, mixing cricket with pop culture.
The Gill Era: Moving India Forward
Gill’s captaincy is shining as of October 11, 2025, during the ongoing West Indies Test series. He became the 12th Indian captain to reach 1,000 international runs as skipper with back-to-back fifties in the first two Tests. He has scored 18 World Test Championship 50+ runs (the third most for India). Since putting on the baggy blue, he has made three centuries and two fifties. Fans are saying, “The Captain Gill Era begins!”—a sentiment that is echoed across X, where his calmness is like Rohit’s and his fire is like Virat’s.
Gill isn’t just taking over the throne after Kohli and Sharma; he’s changing it. “The Prince” is going to change into the king that Indian cricket needs as the 2027 ODI World Cup gets closer. Shubman Gill isn’t coming; he’s already here, bat in hand, ready to win.
