India Test and ODI captain lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Centre of Excellence and explained how it helped him recover well and on time for the T20I series against South Africa.
Gill, who had been playing continuous cricket since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, suffered a neck injury during the first Test against the Proteas in Kolkata last month and was eventually sidelined for the second Test and the three-game ODI series. He went to the BCCI CoE to start his rehabilitation and will now be seen in action in the T20I series against the Proteas, which starts on December 9. BCCI shared a video on social media where Gill spoke in detail about his recovery time.
“I'm feeling much better. I think the day that I came here, from that day till today, I've had quite a few skill sessions and some training sessions. So, I feel much, much better now. From recovery to training, I think for an athlete, it can't get any better. It's a paradise for any athlete. You come here, you want to get physically better, you want to get mentally better.”
Shubman Gill for CoE facilities
Gill who will be Suryakumar Yadav's deputy in the five-match T20I series against South Africa, hailed the facilities at the CoE and how the NCA shaped his formative years. The right-handed batter admitted that there were so many machines in the CoE that he didn't even know how to use them.
“You can't ask for better facilities. You know, you can go to the oxygen chamber. There's cryo there and some of the things that I've used for the recovery have been pretty amazing for me. What stood out for me was there are so many machines that I don't know how to use. That itself tells you, you know, how big the setup is.
“Growing up playing under-14, under-16, you know, it used to be a thing among us where we used to be like someone has been to the NCA and come back. Watching that player, we used to be off that thing, you know, he's gone to the NCA. You play the under-16 state, if you play the finals, you play seven to eight matches out of, I think, 200 players together that play in the under-16 state. Only 25-30 used to attend the NCA's and the 16 NCA's and it used to be a very big thing.
“We all used to look forward to coming here, you know, spending time with the coaches, training here. When you're coming here, you know, you're kind of the cream of the crop. So, you know, you have the skillset to be able to reach to the next level and making use of the facility where you know that how I can go to the next level physically or how I can go to the next level mentally.”
Gill lauded CoE trainers and coaches
Gill also praised the efforts taken by the trainers and coaches who work with the players at the NCA. Notably, before Gill Rishabh Pant was also there at the NCA after getting injured in the Test series in England.
“You have got all the coaches here to work with us. You've got all the trainers and all the physios. But how willing are you to be able to work on yourself from that aspect is going to take you up that notch from the rest of the players and that's how I think everyone can, whosoever comes, I can make use of.”