 "The strong bond of friendship between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill is the secret of their successful partnership. Image: AFP")
Cricket is a game of partnerships. Sure, it is the most individual of all team sports, but no individual can win a game on their own steam. It’s about bowlers working as a pair, one imposing pressure and the other reaping rewards. It’s about a bowler and a fielder operating in synergy. And, more than anything else, it’s about two batters joining hands to erect edifices that are utilitarian without losing out on style and elegance.
Two versus 11 isn’t an equal contest. But two versus 11 is the very essence of cricket – two batters up against 11 opponents on the park. It becomes imperative then that the batters are on the same page, that their personal interests are aligned with that of the team’s. If that equilibrium can be attained, wow.
Abhishek-Gill and the unshakeable bond
But what if that equilibrium is suffused with an entirely different dimension? A dimension that extends beyond mutual respect and trust? What if it encompasses an enduring friendship, a relationship of a decade and more, a bond of admiration and instantaneous affection, forged by an unyielding sense of kinship that has transcended the passage of time?
Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma have known each other, closely, for more than a decade now. The former turned 26 earlier this month, four days after the latter rang in his 25th birthday. They are fundamentally different people; Gill is a little more introverted until he gets to know you really well over a period of time, Abhishek is more outgoing by comparison. The older man, by a year, can be mistaken for being a little aloof where the younger one, him of the studs in the ears, is boisterous and free-spirited. But what is it that they say about opposites attracting each other?
Gill, from Fazilka, and Abhishek, born in Amritsar, came face-to-face in the early 2010s, at the Under-14 level in Punjab cricket. They immediately hit it off. Like all teenagers then and now, they must have fancifully spoken of playing a higher grade of cricket in each other’s company. Many years back, VVS Laxman revealed that when he was in his early teens, he was convinced, naively, that he would represent the country. “I didn’t know what that journey would entail, what I would have to do to break into the national team, but with the confidence that comes only to the very young, I was certain I’d play for India,” he said. Laxman not only played for India, he did so with great distinction. It can be surmised that like Laxman then, and many other teenagers now, Gill and Abhishek perhaps told each other that they too would play international cricket. Hopefully together.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhich is what they are doing now. Gill got there first, within a year of headlining India’s march to the Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand in 2018. Abhishek, also in that Class of ’18, took longer to break through, having to wait until July last year, five and a half years after his great buddy, to earn his first India cap. In one of those endearing twists that only sport can through up, Abhishek’s India debut came under Gill’s captaincy; what’s more, the duo lived out a dream, walking out to open the batting against Zimbabwe in Harare.
The start was inauspicious. Their partnership lasted just four deliveries, Abhishek dismissed without scoring. In the next innings, the left-hander bared his fangs, clattering to a century to punish Zimbabwe for having the temerity to defeat India in the first of five T20Is. Since then, Abhishek has compelled and commanded attention, something Gill has done since his Test debut in Australia towards the end of December 2020.
Gill is India’s Test captain, and the vice-captain in the two white-ball formats, to Rohit Sharma in the 50-over game and to Suryakumar Yadav in T20s. At some stage next year, he will take over as India’s all-format skipper, following in the footsteps of Rohit, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli before him. He became the toast of the cricketing world for his 754 runs in five Tests in the summer in England, for his stirring role in the 2-2 stalemate in his first outing as the five-day skipper. He already has an ODI double-century and is one of the few Indian batters to have an international hundred in each of the three formats. He is rapidly emerging as the new poster boy of Indian cricket, if he isn’t already that.
Abhishek is still a gem in the process of being polished, though he is anything but an uncut diamond. His potential has been obvious to the connoisseurs for many years now. When he was first snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad, Laxman was taken in by the cricketing gifts naturally bestowed on the young fella. Yuvraj Singh, his mentor , couldn’t stop gushing about his fellow left-hander’s great ability. It wasn’t hard to see why the past masters were taken in by Abhishek; the problem was that, still wet behind the ears and desperate to make a quick and early impact, he was perhaps culpable of trying too hard – and yes, such a thing does exist.
How Abhishek and Gill rewrote India’s opening story
When he turned the corner in IPL 2024, Abhishek was a man transformed. Once he tasted success, he wanted more; it became an addiction so magnetic that he immersed himself in the sport. His work ethic today is second to none and only equalled by Gill. At every Indian training session on this tour, mandatory or optional, the two great mates have been at nets side by side, watching and admiring each other, feeding off one another, exchanging ideas and notes on batsmanship, on approaches, on game plans and mindsets.
If they were joined at the hip, the two couldn’t be any closer. In the dressing room, they are invariably seated next to each other, Abhishek’s ear-to-ear grin a stark contrast to Gill’s controlled smile. In the privacy of their rooms, Gill must be letting his hair down; Abhishek has no such compunctions, a free spirit whose enjoyment of cricket manifests itself in the construction of magnificent structures that are at once angular and aesthetic, brutal yet appealing.
On Sunday, the best buddies were at it, living out a decade-long dream with a magical century stand against Pakistan in the T20 Asia Cup . Gill was subliminal grace, using the turf as his ally; Abhishek had no qualms going aerial, testing the length of the boundaries and scattering the modest crowd in the stands. Pakistan thought their 171 for five was competitive; fire and ice, as Suryakumar Yadav referred to Abhishek and Gill respectively, made it look miniscule as they put on 105 for the first wicket in a mere 59 deliveries.
“It is really important to be very good friends off the field,” Suryakumar, every bit the proud captain, observed. “If you are batting together, opening together, that really helps to get your bond a little stronger. Sometimes, you don’t have to say anything on the field. You look in the eye and take that cheeky signal or complement each other if someone is going really strong or if someone is having a hard day. That friendship comes into picture because they go back a long way together.
“Everyone knows what kind of player he (Shubman) is and what he brings to the table, what he brings to the team. Abhishek is very selfless when it comes to his batting style. The way he analyses the situation post the Powerplay, that’s a plus point for him. He is learning every game, it’s very important for someone like him to understand what his role is, how he can bat a little deeper. If you keep working hard, God always has plans for you.”
Hard work is the bedrock of success in any field, but chemistry and camaraderie don’t hurt. One doesn’t have to look beyond Abhishek and Gill for confirmation.