ICC U-19 World Cup: Shubman Gill's father reveals how star batsman practiced as a kid

India U-19 player Shubman Gill's father is elated at the performance of his son in the ongoing World Cup in New Zealand, saying the youngster has always been a dedicated cricketer.

"Shubman has always been dedicated to the game of cricket. I am very happy and proud of my son's performance in the ongoing World Cup," said Gill's father Lakhwinder Singh on Tuesday. "We are elated with his century in today's match against Pakistan and defeating the Pakistani team."

Asked when Gill showed his inclination towards cricket, Lakhwinder said he had always been passionate about the game since the age of three. "Shubman never liked any other toy. He always loved playing with the bat and ball. He used to play with cricket bat and ball even during going to bed," he said.

Gill's family belongs to a village in Fazilka in Punjab . "We fully supported him for achieving his dream to become a cricketer. We dedicated 15 years on him to enable him become a world class cricketer. We even left our work and skipped several family functions including marriage ceremonies of our relatives so we could dedicate as much time as we could on him," said Lakhwinder who is now based at Mohali.

The 18-year-old Gill scored 102 not out to help India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by 203 runs in the ICC Under-19 World Cup semifinal match in Christchurch on Tuesday.

Gill, who was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1.8 crore in the Indian Premier League players' auction, is the team's leading scorer with 341 runs.

After electing to bat first, India set a 273-run target with the help of Shubman Gill's 102-run innings, but Pakistan failed to inch even closer to the target as they were bowled out at 69 in just 29 overs.

None of the batsmen from Pakistan could cross the 20-run mark, as Rohail Nazir became the highest scorer for the side with 18 runs. Gill, who became India's first centurion of this World Cup here, was declared the man of the match for his spectacular 102 runs of 94 balls.

Earlier, skipper Prithvi Shaw and Manjot Kalra gave a solid start to India as they shared a partnership of 89 runs before the skipper was run out for 41. Following the skipper's dismissal, Kalra also departed on 47.

However, unstoppable Gill, along with lower-order batsmen, brought the team back on track to take the team to 272 runs. Ishan Porel picked up four wickets for India, while Shiva Singh and Riyan Parag claimed two apiece.

India has so far been unbeaten in the tournament and will face Australia in the finals of the World Cup on February 3.

(Inputs from ANI)