India are in control of the Edgbaston Test and most of the credit should go their captain Shubman Gill as he has led from the front with the bat. While the jury is still out on Shubman Gill the captain and Day 5 will indeed be a litmus test for him, but Shubman Gill the batter has really shone in this English summer. He has dominated the English attack in the first two Test matches.
He started off with a glorious century in Headingly where he scored 147 in the first innings. He missed out on second innings there but in Edgbaston it was the Prince’s time to shine as he converted his hundred to a daddy double hundred. He scored 269 in the first innings to floor England and then drove home the advantage by scoring 161 off 162 balls to virtually bat England out of the game.
Shubman Gill Shattering Records in Edgbaston Test Match.
Down 1-0 in the series, the pressure must have been immense on Shubman Gill the batter and captain. But the youngster kept all those things out and focussed as a batter when he came in the first innings. What followed was a chanceless knock from the Indian captain as he scored 269 off 387 balls in the first innings laced with 30 fours and 3 sixes in the innings. He scored 269 out of the 587 posted by India in the first innings. He scored 45.83% of the team’s runs in the first innings and single-handedly took India to a mammoth score.
In the second innings, Gill scored 161 off 162 balls with 13 fours and 8 sixes to his name. 161 runs off the total of 427/6 is what he scored. In the second innings he scored 37.70% of the team’s runs. Shubman Gill scored 430 runs in two innings.
India have scored 1,014 runs for the loss of 16 wickets in this Test match. So, if we combine the two innings and find out Gill’s contribution to the total, it is 42.40% of the runs. So, it will be safe to say that Gill has single-handedly put India in a great position with the bat. Notwithstanding the efforts of Siraj and Akash Deep so far.
This is the highest aggregate score in two innings by an Indian in a Test match and second overall to Graham Gooch who scored 456 runs against India at Lord’s in 1990. Gill has already amassed 585 runs in 4 innings and there are still 3 Test matches and a potential 6 innings left in the Test series.
The most runs scored by an Indian batter in England in a Test series belongs to Rahul Dravid who scored 602 runs in 6 innings in 2002 with Virat Kohli scoring 593 runs in 10 innings in 2018. Gill has really made his mark in this series at Number 4.
Shubman Gill Over The Years
Shubman Gill has started his captaincy stint really well as a batter and has shown that Number 4 slot belongs to him. He has already amassed close to 600 runs in 4 innings and looks good to score more in the series. But his Test career was a stop-start situation with him scoring only at home and failing in SENA countries. He scored hundreds in Ahmedabad but not elsewhere as such. Yes, he had a good series against England at home scoring centuries, but struggled overseas.
Shubman Gill used to get starts and lovely 20s and 30s away from home and never kicked on. We saw in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that he got starts but never could make it big. That was the concern for us and he averaged 34 before the series and has now taken his average above 40 after two Test matches.
If one remembers Gill was dropped from the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. With Virat and Rohit saying goodbye to Tests, it was important Gill stepped up and led from the front being given the additional responsibility of captaincy.
Shubman Gill seems to have matured a lot and has conquered England as a batter for the time being. He will hope and look to carry on the form with the bat in the coming 3 Test matches because Shubman Gill the batter must help Shubman Gill the captain. He is so far doing it really well. His 147 at Leeds was also special and a lovely innings in his first Test innings as captain.
What Lies Ahead
Shubman Gill the batter has done his job and now it is time for Shubman Gill the captain to do his job. He has a litmus test ahead of him in taking the remaining 7 wickets on a docile surface against a strong English batting line-up, and with the weather looking to play spoilsport as well. Can he inspire his bowlers to finish the job as India to be fair has dominated this Test match? Can he help seal the deal as captain?
An intriguing fifth day’s play is ahead of us. England will not give up easily. India has to bowl well and be patient at times to get wickets and bowl the right lines and lengths. Let’s see if India can close it out and stall England on the final day. It’s going to be a cracker and hoping the rain stays away for the whole day.
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