Shubman Gill snubs MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma as he names his two cricketing idols

Indian test captain Shubman Gill named his two cricketing idols in a recent podcast.

Shubman Gill is the carrier of Indian cricket in the new age. The new India test captain and the vice-captain of the Indian ODI and T20I teams, Shubman Gill, began his India career after heroics in the U19 World Cup in 2018 in New Zealand.

Gill was the highest run-getter in the tournament, and he was soon gobbled up by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 2018. And Gill then made his India ODI debut in 2019 in New Zealand.

Thanks to his domestic and IPL performances, Gill made his India test debut in Australia in the Melbourne test in 2020, while his T20I debut came in 2023 at home in India.

So far, Gill has played 37 tests, scoring 2647 runs with nine centuries and seven fifties with an average of 41.35, with a best score of 269. In 55 ODIs, Gill has made 2775 runs with an average of 59.04 with eight centuries and a best score of 208*. In 22 T20Is, Gill has scored 598 runs with a best score of 126* and a strike rate of 141.03.

Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar: Shubman Gill names his two cricketing idols

Shubman Gill disclosed on an Apple Music podcast that Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar were his childhood idols. He claimed that his father loved Tendulkar and that the Master Blaster inspired him to pursue cricket.

“I have had two idols. The first one was Sachin Tendulkar. He was my dad’s favorite, and I actually got into cricket because of him. He retired in 2013, and around 2011–2013 was when I really started to understand cricket properly, not just the skills but also the mental and tactical side of the game,” Shubman said on the Apple Music podcast.

Shubman Gill revealed that he started watching Virat Kohli between 2011 and 2013 because of his enthusiasm for cricket and drive for success.

“That (2011-2013) was also the time I began following Virat Kohli closely. I loved watching the way he went about his business, the sheer passion he had for the game, and the hunger he carried. You can learn all the skills and all the techniques, but hunger is something you either have or you don’t. Virat had it in abundance, and that really inspired me,” the Indian Test captain said.

Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 with the most matches played in ODI and tests and with the most runs in both formats and 100 international centuries. Virat Kohli retired from T20Is in 2024 and tests in 2025 after 122 T20Is and 123 test matches.

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