"Shubman Gill is a lovely kid; I am keen to help him grow" - Virat Kohli opens up on King-Prince relationship ahead of WTC final
Virat Kohli called Shubman Gill a "lovely kid" with an "amazing skill set" on Tuesday, hours ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia.
The former captain played down 'King' and 'Prince' tags that Indian fans associate with the duo, calling it just entertainment.
Kohli praised Gill's keenness to learn and said, as a senior player, his job is to just help the 23-year-old reach his potential.
"These tags of king and prince and all of that kind of thing are great for the public and spectators to see, but I think the job of any senior player is to help improve the youngsters and give them the insight you have had throughout your career," Kohli told ICC.
"As long as a guy is keen to learn like him he is going to be fine as he wants to learn how to do this for a long time at the highest level and perform consistently," he continued. "He is a lovely kid and he is playing amazingly well and I wish he continues the same in this Test match."
"...I am keen to help him grow and really understand his potential and come into his own so that he can play for a long time and perform consistently and India cricket gets benefited," Kohli added.
The early promise in their career, eye-pleasing shots, and a hunger to score in big matches are some of the similarities between Kohli and Gill.
When both scored brilliant centuries against each other in IPL 2023, fans called it the moment when the baton was passed to the youngster, as Sachin Tendulkar previously did to Kohli.
Virat Kohli says he has an understanding based on respect with Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli further praised Shubman Gill's temperament and said their relationship is based on respect.
"He speaks to me a lot about the game, is very keen to learn, and has an amazing skill set at his age," he said... "He has got an amazing ability and a temperament to perform at the highest level and is confident and we do have that relationship and we do have that understanding based upon respect."
Coming off good runs in the IPL, the duo will both be crucial for India's chances against Australia in the WTC final at The Oval. The match will start at 3 pm IST on Wednesday, June 7.