Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar reminisced about star opener Shubman Gill’s maiden net session for the national senior team, recalling his thrilling performance against throwdown specialists that astounded coach Ravi Shastri.

In a video released by Star Sports, Bangar—who had many spells with the Indian coaching setup in the 2010s—spoke.

Bangar stated in the video that Star Sports shared on their official X handle, “We got a first look at Shubman Gill during his first net session for India. It’s customary in India to perform well against throwdown specialists, who bowl extremely quickly, if you want that approval during the nets session. And unhone uss nets session mein, jo ek screen test hota haina, aise patakhe bajaye the (he made such amazing shots during that session, which is effectively a screen test).

Ek tayaar player mill gya humein, or “we have a ready-made player,” said Ravi Shastri. That was his first effect.

After an incredible 2018 U19 World Cup, in which he won the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award with 372 runs in six games, Gill made his debut for India in 2019. Since then, he has advanced to become one of the nation’s top all-format players.

Gill has amassed 4,886 runs at an average of 42.85 and a strike rate of 82.00 in 128 innings in 101 international matches, with 12 hundreds and 24 fifties. He has a maximum score of 208.

With 2,415 runs at an average of 58.90 in 48 matches and 48 innings, six hundreds, 14 fifties, and a top score of 208, his ODI record is very impressive. With only 38 innings played, he became the world’s quickest player to reach 2,000 ODI runs. In addition, he is the youngest double century in ODI history.

He is one of the few Indian cricketers who have scored hundreds in every international format.

Since his Test results don’t accurately represent his abilities, Gill does need to improve. He has amassed 1,893 runs at an average of 35.05 in 32 Test matches and 59 innings, with five hundreds, seven fifties, and a top score of 128. He has amassed 578 runs with a strike rate of 139.27 and an average of 30.42 in 21 Twenty20 Internationals. In the format, he has a century and three fifties.

He produced a brilliant performance of 87 in 96 balls during a frantic 249-run chase against England on Thursday, his last ODI game, which saw India limited to 19/2.

On Sunday, Gill will play in the second ODI in Cuttack.