Shubman Gill was ate his absolute best in the second India vs England Test in Edgbaston that ended on Sunday. The Indian cricket team captain slammed 269 and 161 as the side registered a 336-run win agianst England at the venue.
After the win, Gill was naturally a jovial man and even trolled a journalist who had reminded him of the no-win record of India at the ground before the match. As Gill arrived in the press conference after etching his name in history, his eyes were keen to find the same journalist who pointed out the bitter stats in front of him during the pre-match press meet.
“I can’t see my favourite journalist. Where is he? I wanted to see him,” Gill said, trolling the journalist during the media conference.
“I even said before the Test match that I don’t really believe in history and stats. Over the last 56 years or so, we’ve played nine matches – different teams have come here. I believe we are the best team to have come here in England, and we have the capability to beat them, to win the series from here. If we keep making the right decisions and keep fighting, I think it would be one of the series to remember,” he further said.
Now the said journalist, BBC’s Joe Wilson, has spoken up after being at the receiving end of Gill’s trolling.
“What the captain said, very sensibly, was that if you look back to the 1960s, 1970s, even 1980s, let’s say, there was a different feel to the Indian team when they travelled abroad. There was no expectation from them to win. Now, they do have the expectation to win. So, maybe that was just statistics, in terms of history. Maybe, it was a motivation. Because, We lost count of records that Shubman himself and India broke. How to get Shubman out that would be the no. 1,” Joe Wilson, BBC’s cricket correspondent, said on
.
When asked if he would make a similar comment to Shubman ahead of the third Test too, Wilson replied: “I would say anything to motivate him, may be who knows. I think he is a real gentleman. he answers every question with great dignity. We love to talk about statistics, don’t we. It was fun.”
The third India vs England Test starts at Lord’s on Thursday.