Shubman's 269: A monument to Tinku's unfinished dream

Time of India

10 hours ago

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M
ohali: In the sweltering Mohali sun, surrounded by a sea of yellow jerseys and the laughter of young cricketers, stands a man whose eyes glisten, not from the heat, but from pride.
Sukhwinder Singh Tinku watches over his students with the quiet satisfaction of a man who has turned heartbreak into hope. Thousands of miles away, his most gifted protégé,
Shubman Gill
, has just etched his name into cricketing history.
Shubman's majestic 269 at Edgbaston didn't just break records, it broke barriers. It's now the highest Test score by an Indian captain, surpassing Virat Kohli's unbeaten 254. But behind that towering knock lies a story of grit, loss, and redemption — one that began not in England, but on the dusty grounds of Punjab.
Tinku's own cricketing dreams once soared high. A Under-19 World Cup player, a trainee at the MRF Pace Foundation, and a stint in Australia — all signs pointed to a bright future. But fate had other plans. A knee injury on a matting wicket, followed by the sudden death of his father, brought his world crashing down. With no money for treatment, his dreams dissolved into pain and silence.
But Tinku didn't stay down. He clawed his way back into the Ranji circuit, defying doctors and odds alike.
Then, in a cruel twist, a casual game of football during a rain delay ended it all. Another fall. Another injury. This time, it was final. He handed his coach the ball and walked away — not just from the game, but from a dream.
For two years, he wandered in a fog of despair. Until one day, he saw children playing cricket outside a school. Something stirred. He offered a few tips. They listened. That spark lit a fire. If he couldn't live his dream, he would help others chase theirs.
From borrowed balls and dusty fields, a coaching legacy was born.
Among the first to catch his eye was an eight-year-old with fierce focus and a bat that spoke volumes — Shubman Gill. "I told everyone then — he'll lead India one day," Tinku says, his voice tinged with both pride and prophecy.
Gill's rise didn't surprise him. "He never threw away his wicket. Even as a kid, he learned from every mistake, without being told," Tinku recalls.
"That discipline, that hunger is still there."
Tinku's coaching mantra is deceptively simple: "Playing for India isn't tough if you learn the right technique and practice sincerely." Many laughed. But his students didn't. And some of them — like Manpreet Gony, Gurkeerat Mann, Sunny Sohal, and Simi Singh — went on to represent nations across the globe.
Still, Shubman remains special.
Tinku chuckles at a memory. "Once, Shubman disappeared for 10 days.
When he returned, I asked where he'd been. He said, 'I went home.' I told him, 'Then go home.' And he actually started walking away! I had to send someone to bring him back. That's how innocent he was."
From a paper packet in his bag, Tinku pulls out old photographs — faded snapshots of young boys with big dreams. Some are now stars, others lost to time. But to Tinku, each face is a chapter in a story of resilience.
As Shubman raised his bat in Edgbaston, the world saw a record. Tinku saw a reflection of a dream once broken, now reborn in the hands of a boy who never forgot where he came from.