Shubman Gill to take personal net bowlers to New Zealand at his own expense
Gill will fund his own net bowlers for the New Zealand Test series after leading India in the first three ODIs.
Shubman Gill plans to fly four or five net bowlers to New Zealand for the two-Test series, covering their travel and stay himself. A BCCI official told PTI that the India Test captain will leave around October 23 or 24, skipping the India A games against New Zealand A because of his ODI schedule.
Gill leads the first three ODIs against New Zealand, then hands the side to Shreyas Iyer for the last two. The staggered squads give Gill, KL Rahul, Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna a head start on Test preparations once the third ODI ends.
Before departure, he will turn out for Punjab in their Ranji Trophy second-round game against Chhattisgarh, starting October 18 in Mullanpur. He sat out the opening match against Assam.
CricHubb Take
The move quietly underscores how thin the BCCI’s support structure still is for players moving between formats; if the Test captain feels he needs to buy his own practice staff, others with smaller contracts will face the same gap.