ENG Vs IND, 2nd Test: Gill Slams Hard-Fought Second Hundred As Captain, Takes India Past 300
Shubman Gill was at his determined best, scoring a hard-fought seventh Test hundred — his second as India’s captain — as the visitors reached 310/5 in 85 overs at stumps on Day One of the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
Under sunny blue skies, England opted to bowl first, with India facing criticism for resting Jasprit Bumrah and packing the side with three all-rounders instead of including another genuine wicket-taker like Kuldeep Yadav. But Gill, coming off a knock of 147 at Headingley, showed immense responsibility and patience, playing with determination to finish unbeaten on 114 off 216 deliveries, laced with 12 boundaries.
During his unbeaten knock — his fourth Test hundred against England — Gill became only the second Indian captain after Mohammad Azharuddin to score centuries in consecutive Tests in England.
He is also the third Indian captain to score hundreds in consecutive Tests against England, after Azharuddin (Lord’s and Old Trafford in 1990) and Vijay Hazare (Delhi and Brabourne in 1951/52). After Yashasvi Jaiswal struck an enterprising 87, Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, who ended the day on 41 not out, shared an unbroken 99-run stand for the sixth wicket to help India recover from 211/5.
For England, local lad Chris Woakes was the standout bowler with two wickets and could easily have had at least a couple more if DRS calls had gone in his favour. Brydon Carse, Ben Stokes, and Shoaib Bashir claimed a wicket each.
In the morning, Woakes was rewarded for his perseverance with the new ball when KL Rahul chopped on to his stumps for just two. He could have removed both Jaiswal and Karun Nair, who came in at No. 3 in place of the omitted B. Sai Sudharsan, lbw if not for the umpire’s call.
Nair displayed pristine timing on his drives and flicked Ben Stokes through the gap between mid-on and mid-wicket. With Josh Tongue being wayward, Jaiswal freed his arms for some elegant drives and cuts, hitting three boundaries in the 16th over and repeating the feat in the 22nd over, with a hook and a slash taking him to his 11th Test fifty.
It was a knock in which Jaiswal, despite little movement on offer, endured a tough examination — at one point he was 16 off 34 balls — and came through with flying colours. Carse then caught the shoulder edge of Nair’s bat, and the outside edge carried to second slip, ending an 80-run stand for the second wicket on the stroke of lunch.
Post-lunch, old-fashioned attritional cricket took centre stage as India made 84 runs in 28 overs. Though Jaiswal fell 13 short of his sixth Test hundred, Gill continued to hold fort.
At the start, Gill and Jaiswal picked up singles whenever possible. Jaiswal sliced over the slips for a boundary, while Gill got his boundaries off edges through gully twice, being severely tested on playing around his front pad.
Woakes continued to probe Gill around the middle stump line, hoping to get him playing across the front pad. But the Indian skipper, batting outside the crease, handled it well with a sturdy, tight forward defence. With Tongue and Bashir in the attack, Jaiswal and Gill picked up a boundary each as they brought up the fifty of their partnership.
But Stokes once again produced a crucial breakthrough, as Jaiswal tried to cut one away outside off and edged behind to keeper Jamie Smith, with the England skipper celebrating ecstatically.
While Gill continued to pick off singles on both sides of the wicket, Rishabh Pant took his time, respecting some good bowling before dancing down the pitch to smack a half-volley from Bashir over long-on for six. The pair knocked off singles in the final two overs before the tea break.
The final session began sedately before a ball change was made after it got stuck in the gauge. Gill then used his feet nicely to take a four each off Woakes and Bashir — the second of which brought up his fifty in 125 balls.
But Bashir struck in the 61st over, teasing Pant — who had earlier lapped him for four — into playing a big shot on a slower, flighted delivery. Pant fell into the trap, holing out to long-on for 25. One wicket brought two, as Nitish Kumar Reddy shouldered arms to a delivery from Woakes that jagged back in to knock over his off-stump.
After those quick breakthroughs, England brought back Carse, but a solid Gill drove him crisply through extra cover and point for a pair of fours. Gill and Jadeja took a boundary each off Stokes, who tried to unsettle them with a barrage of bouncers. But it didn’t pay off as the duo brought up a fifty partnership for the sixth wicket.
While Jadeja found boundaries off Bashir and Tongue, Gill cut the pacer for four, then swept Root for consecutive boundaries to bring up his seventh Test hundred off 199 deliveries, celebrating with a trademark roar and a gentle bow. After the second new ball was taken, Gill and Jadeja added a boundary each before a solid day of Test cricket came to an end.
Brief scores:
India 310/5 in 85 overs (Shubman Gill 114*; Yashasvi Jaiswal 87; Chris Woakes 2/59, Brydon Carse 1/49) vs England
