Shubman Gill's aunt reveals how his parents faced criticism for leaving village for cricket: 'People used to taunt them'

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced young sensation Shubman Gill as the new captain of the Indian Test team. Gill has succeeded Rohit Sharma, who recently retired from the longest format at the age of 38, right before the five-match Test series against England.

After Gill’s appointment as the Test captain, reactions have been pouring from all across the globe, including from his native village in Punjab, where his extended family lives. The 25-year-old is from Chak Kherewala village in the Fazilka district, which is closer to the Pakistan border.

Gill’s aunt reveals sacrifices her family made for his training

Speaking to The Indian Express, Gill’s paternal aunt Gurpreet Sandhu said that most people in their border village only knew farming. So when Gill’s father decided to move out for his son’s cricket training, people did not understand and started criticising his family.

“Being a border village, the only way people have earned money here is agricultural land. My father has always taken pride in being a farmer. So, when my brother decided to shift, it not only meant that my father’s son was leaving the village but his grandkids would too," Gurpreet said.

“People used to taunt them, saying who goes so far for cricket training. But then somebody had to make the sacrifice. And both, my father and brother, did that. To see Shubman lead the Indian team will be the proudest moment for my father and brother,” she added.

Gill will lead India in the upcoming Test series in England, starting 20 June. He will be assisted by India’s new vice-captain Rishabh Pant. Gill has no experience of captaining in red-ball cricket. He is the vice-captain of the ODI team but will lead for the first time in Tests.

The BCCI also unveiled the squad for the series and it has a few surprises. Karun Nair has been added to the Test side for the first time in 8 years. Meanwhile, Sai Sudharsan and Arshdeep Singh have received their maiden callups.

India’s squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav