India vs England: Shubman Gill’s marathon double ton singlehandedly puts visitors in charge of second Test

India captain Shubman Gill, it seems, has taken upon himself to ensure that the fans in this transition phase don’t get longingly nostalgic about the era gone by and miss the country’s past batting greats. In just his 34th Test, Gill has overtaken Sachin Tendulkar’s highest individual score. And it has taken him just a couple of Tests as captain to play an epic inning of 269, that’s 15 more than Virat Kohli’s highest score, when he was the King.

At Edgbaston on Day 2 of the second Test, Gill showed that it wasn’t just wishful thinking when he was designated the prince, earmarked to take the great Indian batting legacy forward. And those who uttered his name in the same breath as Tendulkar and Kohli were not indulging in some marketing hype. He showed he could be trusted with his talent and tactics.

Gill had single-handedly dragged India back in the series. The team that was packed with batsmen, and opted to rest its main wicket-takers, piled on 587. England, tired after fielding for more than five sessions, were 77/3 at stumps. Akash Deep, playing in place of Jasprit Bumrah, took two wickets and Mohammed Siraj the other one. The bowlers played their part in pushing back England, but this was Gill’s day.

Story continues below this ad

When the India captain walked back to the pavilion after batting for more than eight hours, the knackered England fielders ran up to him to shake his hand and every spectator, including the notorious Hollies Stand that wiped out gallons of beers, stood up to applaud.

India had found a captain who wore the burden of leadership lightly and Test cricket had unearthed a batsman who was easy on the eye. He has a handsome face, is technically correct and aesthetically pleasing. He has the skills, profile and gravitas to be on posters and make fans travel miles.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The word from the dressing room is that Gill has a mind of his own. After losing the first Test of the series that his team should have won, the young captain faced brickbats and questions. His team selections and field placements at Headingley were also criticised. A weak-minded or people-pleaser skipper would have succumbed to pressure and taken the popular call – convincing Bumrah to play the second Test and include wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the second Test.

Coach Gautam Gambhir and the selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar left it to the captain to pick the team he wanted. Gill left out specialist Kuldeep, preserving him for later. He included all-rounder Washington Sundar, a lesser bowler but a better batsman.

Story continues below this ad

On Day 1, after the team was announced, the decision was thrashed but within 24 hours, opinions were changing. Gill and Washington put on 144 runs for the seventh wicket. The captain could be trusted as he always has been, from the time he was a promising junior to now when he was India captain.

Copybook game

Before the series, Gill’s coach from his junior days, Abhay Sharma, said the one thing about the youngster’s batting that caught his eye was the correctness of his technique.

“He always played only cricketing shots, no hanky-panky shots. He could bisect the field, his balance was good, his shot selection was perfect. Most importantly, for a boy of 15, whether he got a 100 or 10, his behaviour was the same,” said the first-class cricketer and reputed national-level coach.

On Thursday, those at the stadium would have told Abhay that his boy still batted in the same manner. The India skipper had said that he regretted playing a loose shot on 147 in the first Test. He showed he can learn from his mistakes. On Day 2 at Edgbaston, resuming at 114, he seemed mentally prepared to stay on the pitch as long as he could. He had a steely look on his face and purpose in his eyes.

Story continues below this ad

He would start the day with an edged boundary through the slips but that was a rare blemish. The bisecting of the field and perfect shot-selection that Sharma spoke about were once again on display.

England captain Ben Stokes would have extra-cover and cover so close that they could shake hands. There would be a wide mid-on and short mid-wicket within whispering distance of each other. Stokes would position himself at short mid-on so straight that to drive the ball between him and the bowler on his follow-through would be as tough as threading the needle.

But Gill is blessed with great hands – make it, he has great hands that are programmed to send the ball exactly where he wants because he has been batting for hours since he was 5.

Breaking opposition morale

Once in a while, he would also hit a few hanky-panky shots. When Stokes laid the leg-side trap and kept the off-side virtually unguarded, Gill would step back in the crease and cut the ball on the leg-stump to the point boundary. He would also score a boundary with a reverse-sweep off Shoaib Bashir. This was followed by a slog-sweep that went out of the ground, Bashir being the bowler again.

Story continues below this ad

By this point, Gill had improved his personal best and crossed 150. The England team had collectively given up. Now the plan seemed to wait for Gill to reach his double hundred and play a tired shot to get out. It happened exactly like that; 76 balls after reaching his double hundred, the India captain, exhausted after playing 387 balls, gave a catch to Ollie Pope as he failed to keep a pull shot down.

India had come back roaring into the series and Gill had validated those who trusted him. Coach Sharma has a story from India’s under-19 tour of England just before a junior World Cup. It was a trip that Rahul Dravid, the main coach, had missed but he would constantly be in touch with Sharma for inputs about the players. In one 50-overs game, Gill opened the innings and scored 170-odd runs and was out in the 42nd over.

That night Dravid called Sharma. “I still remember that call. There was an India A tour in a few months so I told him Shubman should be included,” he said. “Rahul asked me ‘Is he ready?’ I answered that he is even ready for India. I am 2000 per cent sure.”

Gill, on Thursday, didn’t miss the 200 and also showed why his coach was 2000 percent sure about him.

Click here to read article