Shubman Gill became one of the few Indian captains to leave the England shores with the series squared, after the visitors pulled off a miraculous six-run win at the Kennington Oval, London, on Monday, August 4, 2025. From Headingley to Oval – Gill has only grown as captain and has improved in leaps and bounds every passing day.
But none more evident than the way he led his troops on the fourth and fifth day of the final Test match.
The England openers took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners in the first innings, but Gill ensured that it didn’t happen in the second innings of the Oval with an in-and-out field. While the hosts did get off to a decent start but it was nowhere close to the kind of dominant approach they showed in the first innings. The second innings also saw him be a lot more patient than he was earlier in the series.
Some may argue about how he used Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, along with some dodgy selection calls, but he has results to win that debate. With Gill finishing the series as the leading run-scorer (754), way ahead of second-best Joe Root, his deputy in the Oval Test, was the third-highest run-getter with 532 runs. Rahul not only weathered the early storm for India as an opener but also chipped in with some valuable advice for Gill throughout the Test match, as highlighted by veteran broadcaster Harsha Bhogle in the post-match show on Sony Sports Network.
“He was always in his ears,” said Bhogle, drawing attention to the quiet contributions that usually slip under the radar and rarely make headlines. Rahul’s calmness appears to have rubbed off on Gill, and it seamlessly blended with the India captain’s personality. The end result – India came up with the goods under pressure and levelled the five-match series 2-2 at Kennington Oval.