• Home
  • Player Stories
  • When Gills Father Revealed How Charpoy Tactic Helped Son Improve His Game

When Gill's Father Revealed How 'Charpoy' Tactic Helped Son Improve His Game

image-lq23cnd8Shubman Gill is an all-format star for India (Twitter)

Shubman Gill's father Lakhwinder Singh revealed an interesting tactic used by him to groom his son's skill and reflexes against fast-bowling before he transformed into one of India's finest young talents at the international stage. 

The 24-year-old, who is an integral part of India's Test, ODI and T20I squad after grand success enjoyed over the past 12 months and is about to captain Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), used to train via a "charpoy" in the most unique tactic used by Lakhwinder to sharpen his son's game.

Gill's father used to throw and skid a ball on the charpoy while he batted at the other end to ensure the junior Lakhwinder would train to react quickly to high pace and bounce against fast-bowlers. The trick worked its magic as the elegant right-hander grew up to become one of the better players of pace bowling in the Indian team. 

Shubman Gill's Father Unveils Unique Tactic To Groom Son 

"Seeing his interest in the game, I decided to train him. I made him play 500 to 700 balls every day. To make him adept at handling fast bowling, I used to throw the ball over a manji (charpoy)," Lakhwinder told Times of India during an interview. 


"The ball tends to travel faster after skidding off the charpoy. Besides that, he practiced with a single stump as his bat. That helped Shubman in finding the middle of the bat more often than not," he added. 

It's not the only major contribution of Lakhwinder's brain and commitment towards Gill's transformation into a reputed international cricketer as the man revealed he also shifted base to Mohali to ensure his son gets the best of practice and coaching. 

Originally hailing from Chak Khere Wala in Fazika, a small village near the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, Gill's family moved to Mohali, the place of the city's PCA Stadium where he would train for hours on his game and fitness. 

"Our village is about 300 kilometers from Mohali. But due to lack of facilities there, we brought him here (in Mohali)," Lakhwinder said. "We fully supported him in achieving his dream to become a cricketer. We dedicated 15 years to him to enable him to become a world class cricketer." 


"We even left our work and skipped several family functions including marriage ceremonies of our relatives so we could dedicate as much time as we could to him," he added.