Shubman Gill pays for personal net bowlers on New Zealand tour
Shubman Gill will personally pay for four to five net bowlers to accompany him on the New Zealand tour for specialized red-ball preparation.
India Test captain Shubman Gill will take four to five personal net bowlers to New Zealand at his own expense. The bowlers will train exclusively with him ahead of the two-Test series that begins on November 19. A BCCI official confirmed Gill is meeting all expenses for the arrangement.
Gill leads India in the first three ODIs against New Zealand before handing over to Shreyas Iyer for the final two matches. He will skip the India A Tests against New Zealand A and instead play a Ranji Trophy match for Punjab against Chhattisgarh starting October 18 in Mullanpur. The 26-year-old scored 754 runs during India's five-Test series in England earlier this year.
The BCCI has named separate ODI squads to allow Gill, KL Rahul, Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna to prepare for the red-ball series. Gill departs India on October 23 or 24.
CricHubb Take
Gill's decision to fund his own support staff signals he views the New Zealand Tests as the tour's defining assignment and is unwilling to rely solely on BCCI arrangements.