• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Love For Cricket Gill Repaired Damaged Bat That Eventually Witnessed Leeds Ton

Love For Cricket! Gill Repaired Damaged Bat That Eventually Witnessed Leeds Ton

Sakshi Sharma

Shubman Gill's bat repaired (Source: AP)Shubman Gill's bat repaired (Source: AP)

India's newly-appointed Test captain, Shubman Gill, announced his arrival in dramatic style as he scored a magnificent unbeaten 127 on the opening day of the first Test against England at Headingley. With this knock, Gill also etched his name alongside legends like Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, and Virat Kohli and became the fifth player to score a century in their first Test as captain.

Gill’s innings was a masterclass in composure and timing. However, what made the milestone even more special was the little-known fact he faced just days before the match. Just fews days ago of the first Test match, Shubman Gill damaged his favourite bat during a training session.

Captain Gill Marks Debut With Unbeaten Century

Ahead of the Leeds Test, India’s squad had been training in Beckenham, Kent. During an intra-squad match, Gill reportedly had to leave a searing yorker, which badly damaged the toe of his bat. Concerned about the upcoming Test, Gill reached out to Cricfix_batservices, a specialist bat repair company based in Kent. 

In a video shared by the company on Instagram, the owner narrated how the bat came into their hands.

"That's right, today we're repairing a bat from India captain Shubman Gill," the owner said. "We received a text saying that Shubman had damaged the toe of one of his bats during a training session, and he needed us to come and pick it up and sort it out ahead of the Test match."

Upon looking at the bat, the team noticed significant damage and wanted to repair it with precision. The bat had deep damage and multiple splits at the toe, a common outcome when countering fast, dipping deliveries.

"As you can see, it looks like he had to dig out a nasty yorker during training," the technician explained. "We made sure to glue up all the cracks and then apply a small wedge into the toe, which pushed up the damaged area and made the toe nice and flat again."

Gill’s century on Day 1 of the Test has set the tone for India’s tour of England. With a bat restored and confidence unshaken, the young captain seems ready to write his own chapter after the retirement of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.