Can’t pick one ‘superhero of cricket’; Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kohli inspired different generations: Shubman Gill

Young batter Shubman Gill — the voice of Indian Spider-Man in the upcoming animated movie “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” — has a clear favourite when it comes to reel superheroes, but can’t pick one from his own sport. Be it Sunil Gavaskar, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar or Virat Kohli, each one of these cricketing greats has a “legacy of their own” and “inspired different generations”, the cricketer said.

Asked who according to him is the ‘superhero of cricket’, Gill said the never-ending ‘who is better’ debate is futile.

“Sometimes people debate whether or not Virat bhai is better, Sachin sir is better, Sunil Gavaskar or Don Bradman were better. Starting from Sunil Gavaskar sir, the generation that he inspired… If we didn’t win the 1983 World Cup, maybe we would never have had a player like Sachin sir.

“If we didn’t win the 2011 World Cup, would I be that inspired to play cricket? I don’t know… So, you can’t really name one. They have done different things for different generations and inspired different people,” Gill told PTI in an interview.

The 23-year-old, who emerged as the highest scorer for Gujarat Titans with 890 runs at the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, has swapped his bat for microphone by lending his voice to Pavitr Prabhakar in the animated multi-verse story of the web-casting hero.

The film, slated to be released by Sony Pictures Entertainment India across the country on June 1, marks the big-screen debut of Pavitr Prabhakar, the Indian Spider-Man.

Calling Spider-Man his “favourite superhero”, the opener batter said he didn’t think twice before accepting the voice over offer. “It was the first ever superhero movie that I watched as a kid. So, it was an instant yes when the team approached me for the dubbing,” said the Marvel movie fan, who has dubbed for the web-slinger in Hindi and Punjabi versions.

Gill said he is elated with all the love coming his way, especially from his Punjabi friends.

“All my Punjabi friends are going insane over it because they keep sending me stuff on Instagram. Their reaction was great,” he said.

Asked whether he enjoyed dubbing in Hindi or Punjabi, Gill said Punjabi was easier as it’s his mother tongue.

“It was easier for me to do it in Punjabi because I had done the dubbing for the Hindi version before… By the time I got to the Punjabi version, it was easy for me. Firstly, it is my mother tongue and secondly, I know which emotions to portray here,” he explained.

Given his hectic schedule, he is not sure about long-term acting assignments in future, but he is open to “opportunities” like the one in “Spider-Man”.

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to give that much time (to acting). But if there is something that really excites me or I relate to, then of course, why not?” he added.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” will hit the Indian screens in English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali.