Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2022: Shubman Gill celebrates India call-up with glittering ton against Karnataka

The Indian selection committee led by Chetan Sharma announced India's limited overs squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour post the T20 World Cup in Australia on Monday. Stylish Indian batter Shubman Gill who has been called up for the T20I squad for the first time in his nascent career, celebrated it by smashing a glittering century for Punjab in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy quarter-final clash against Karnataka at Eden Gardens.

The 23-year-old opening batter has become an indispensable part of the Indian batting order in the 50-over format in the absence of senior openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. And his latest impressive performances in the longer format of the game has been rewarded with a call-up to the T20I squad for the New Zealand tour. The elegant batter revealed that the India call-up has fuelled his motivation as he smashed a sumptuous 55-ball 126 to guide Punjab to the semi-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.

“I came to know about my selection in the T20I squad after the BCCI had tweeted about it. But yeah, of course, when you are in the Indian team, be it for any format, that’s always a great motivation. Having been selected for the Indian T20I team obviously made me feel great and it did turn out to be a huge bit of motivation behind today (Tuesday)’s innings,” Gill told reporters at the Eden Gardens.

I never had any such plan of leaving KKR: Shubman Gill

The former KKR star, who was pouched by the eventual IPL winners Gujarat Titans after KKR did not retain him, felt at home playing at the Eden Gardens. The mercurial batter proclaimed that he never wanted to leave the Kolkata-based franchise and is not ruling out a return to the franchise that gave him his big break.

“I never had any such plan of leaving KKR. Whatever the circumstances were, KKR didn’t retain me. But then, I went to Gujarat Titans, did well there and we won the IPL. Now in future, we can’t predict what will happen and what possibilities may arise,” Gill added.