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‘I Was Throwing Balls To Sachin Sir…’ Shubman Gill Recalls Earliest IPL Memories

Aakash Saini

Shubman Gill and Sachin Tendulkar [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]Shubman Gill and Sachin Tendulkar [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]

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Shubman Gill is set to continue as Gujarat Titans captain for the second year running this IPL 2025 season. The charismatic Indian opener was appointed as the leader of his franchise after senior all-rounder Hardik Pandya left the position vacant a year ago.

With Gill entering his eighth edition through the upcoming IPL 2025 season, the cricketer recently recalled some of his earlier memories of the IPL. He spoke about the time he first met Sachin Tendulkar at a Mumbai Indians training session in Panchkula, where he had the rare opportunity to throw balls to the legendary batter during practice.

Shubman Gill recalls earliest IPL memories

While speaking on JioHotstar ahead of the upcoming IPL 2025 season, Shubman Gill said that he still remembers attending the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula when he around nine or ten years old. An aspiring youngster with huge cricketing ambitions at the time, Gill stated that he even caught up with then Mumbai Indians players Sachin Tendulkar and Glenn Maxwell when the franchise visited the stadium for training sessions.

“I remember attending three to four matches with my father at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula. In the second or third year of the IPL, Mumbai Indians came there for practice. I was around nine or ten years old at the time. I even have a photo with Sachin Sir and Glenn Maxwell. I was throwing balls to them during their practice. These are some of my earliest memories of the IPL.”

Shubman Gill added that Sachin Tendulkar was the reason he got into cricket in the first place. He said:

“I was extremely nervous, but I already knew about Sachin Sir. He was the reason I started playing cricket. My father is his biggest fan. Though my dad never had much interest in posters, we had Sachin's posters in our village.”

Under the leadership of Shubman Gill, the Gujarat Titans franchise will play its first match of the IPL 2025 season against Punjab Kings. The match will be hosted by the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 25.