Shubman Gill was new to captaincy. Shubman Gill was newer to the No.4 spot in Test cricket. He took both the challenges head-on. While the jury is still out about his captaincy skills, Shubman Gill put an end to all the doubters of his batting skills, especially in overseas conditions.
After hitting a 147 in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in Headingley, Gill backed it up with an even better, more patient and mature hundred at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
In the process, Shubman Gill joined the likes of Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammed Azharuddin, and Virat Kohli to achieve the rare feat of scoring a Test hundred on his first two Tests as the Indian captain. He did this while batting at No.4, a position Virat Kohli made his own for the last 11 years.
Former England captain Nasser Hussain, however, still believes Shubman Gill is better suited at No.3. “I think some people are just like that, he looks like a natural number three,” Hussain said on Sky Sports after the Indian captain’s seventh Test century.
The former England captain compared Gill with England legend Joe Root, who spent a significant time of his Test career batting at No.3 before moving down to the No.4 spot.
“He’s doing what, you know, England have done with Joe Root. I’ve often thought you’ve had lesser players than Joe Root at number three and you’ve had your best player at number four and he looks like a natural number three to me, Shubman Gill, but the pressure of captaincy and just also away from home when the ball has moved around, he has been found wanting a little bit, so just to come in when the ball stops moving around, but I thought he was really composed today, it was old-fashioned batting, he had to get in, grind out a score and then cash in in the last session,” Hussain added.
Gill started his Test career as a designated opener. He then asked for the No.3 spot when the team management decided to drop Cheteshwar Pujara. The talented righthander, however, did not deliver the results in red-ball cricket. His average of 35 before the start of the England tour, was the biggest proof.
Ravi Shastri draws Shubman Gill’s comparison with Virat Kohli
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, under whom Gill made his debut, said the technical adjustments that Gill made on Wednesday made all the difference.
“I think the biggest difference, Wadi, is that he’s worked on his defence, when he last came to England, you know, he was someone like Virat who played with hard hands, pushed at the ball, now the top hand is in much more control, you know, he allows the ball to come and hit the bat, he’s trusting his defence and then we know he has all the shots in the box, he’s a lovely driver of the ball, he can pull as well, but just that little work on his defence has done a world of good,” Shastri said.
Shubman Gill rose to the occasion with a gritty, unbeaten 114, while Yashasvi Jaiswal impressed again with a fluent 87, as India ended a hard-fought opening day of the second Test against England on 310-5.
Under scrutiny after India rested pace ace Jasprit Bumrah, Gill led from the front with a composed, resilient knock. Coming in under pressure and facing a testing first session, the 24-year-old soaked up the heat from England’s seamers before blossoming late in the day. He brought up his seventh Test hundred-and second of the series-with back-to-back sweeps off Joe Root, his slowest century yet, off 199 balls, but arguably one of his most significant.
Jaiswal, fresh off a hundred in the series opener, was once again in sublime touch. The left-hander stroked 13 boundaries in a fluent 87, racing to his fifty before lunch. A loose shot to a wide delivery from Ben Stokes saw him fall just short of another century.
England, who opted to bowl first, made regular inroads, with Chris Woakes (2-59) particularly impressive in the morning. But a late, unbroken 99-run stand between Gill and Ravindra Jadeja (41*) tilted the day India’s way, setting up an intriguing Day 2.