India batter Shubman Gill scored a gritty century in Vizag on Day 3 of the Test match. Batting in the second innings, Shubman Gill‘s century rescued India after the openers fell cheaply early on Sunday morning. Gill was lucky in the early part of his innings when two DRS calls for LBW went in his favour. Gill was also lucky when Joe Root – standing at wide first slip – was not able to grab a simple outside edge offered by the batter.
After spending the morning session on Sunday with patience, Gill took an aggressive route after lunch. The batter smashed the England spinners, hitting 11 boundaries and 2 sixes putting India in command. Shubman was dismissed on 104 runs off just 147 balls guiding India to a massive lead of 398 runs. Speaking via a Board of Control for Cricket video Gill agreed that he was lucky in the first part of his innings.
India dismissed England for 292 runs in their second innings on day four to register a series-levelling 106-run win in the second Test. Resuming at 194 for six, England lost the remaining four wickets in the post-lunch session to be bowled out in 69.2 overs as India levelled the five-match series 1-1 and Shubman Gill’s ton was one of the key factors for Indian win.
Shubman Gill’s grinded his way to a magnificent 104 in the second innings
Tough and tricky periods serve as a test of character and resilience. Shubman Gill has cleared that test, and in flying colors.
Unlike Shreyas Iyer, who finds himself in a dicey situation in terms of his selection for the remainder of the series after wasting yet another opportunity, Gill, for the time being, seems to have done enough to keep his doubters and critics quiet.
He showed the grit and patience required to weather an early James Anderson storm on Sunday morning, gradually got into his groove and reached three figures for the third time in the longest format. That enabled India to set England a stiff 399-run target in the second Test at the ACA-VDCA Stadium.
His celebration after bringing up his century — the first batting at No.3 and after a no-show in 13 innings on the trot which questioned his place in the squad — was quite simple and mellow compared to that of Yashaswi Jaiswal, the first innings double centurion. When a single off leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed took him to the landmark, Gill, with his father Lakhwinder Singh clapping from the BCCI box on the stadium premises, just raised his bat, taking off the helmet with an expression of relief writ large on his face.
“Staying true” to his style of playing helped Gill wade through the tough period in his Test career. “Sometimes, if you get over-defensive or over-aggressive or try to be someone you are not, then you are prolonging those innings.
Precisely, this 104-run knock was as important as Jaiswal’s 209 in the first innings because India, barring the two crucial partnerships of 81 and 89 Gill stitched with Iyer and Axar Patel, respectively, kept losing wickets at regular intervals before folding for 255 in their second innings. That, even after India were cruising at 211/4 when Gill and Axar had absolutely no problem in dealing with Rehan, left-armer Tom Hartley and rookie off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
A stroke of fortune early in his innings certainly helped Gill. After Anderson castled captain Rohit Sharma and induced an edge off Jaiswal, India could easily have been 31/3 had the DRS not spotted a faint inner edge off his bat when Gill was adjudged lbw by the on-field umpire off Tom Hartley. He was on 4 then. Soon after, the umpire’s call came to Gill’s rescue when Anderson shaped one in to hit his front knee. Minutes later, Zak Crawley was late to react at slip when Gill edged one with Hartley again being the unlucky bowler.
Stroke of luck aside, Gill needs to be lauded for quickly putting those close shaves out of his mind, looking determined to remain steady against the Anderson test and latching onto anything ill-directed from the English spin trio with his footwork close to being spot-on.
Mr 360 degrees and former South African batter AB de Villiers has claimed that Shubman Gill’s hundred in the second innings was the difference between India and England in the second Test in Vizag.
Shubman Gill showed incredible character- AB de Villiers
Legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers is highly impressed with young Indian batter Shubman Gill for the stunning hundred that the latter scored in the second innings of the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam.
Gill’s knock of 104 allowed India to set up a daunting target of 399 for the visitors. Given England scored 292 in their fourth innings, De Villiers believes Gill’s knock was match-defining for India.
In a video on his YouTube channel, here’s what AB de Villiers had to say about Shubman Gill’s hundred :
“He (Gill) came to Vizag and just showed the incredible character that the young man has got. What an incredible player. I don’t know if he has worked on his technique at all or has anything changed, but it just shows you the talent he has got. In the second innings of a big Test match, that was a telling hundred and let me tell you, that was the difference between the two sides,”
After the game, while speaking on Sports18, Shubman Gill accepted that he was under a bit of pressure coming into the second Test due to the expectations he had from himself. The hundred will certainly help him believe that he could be successful at No. 3 in Test cricket.
Gill showcased his exceptional talent during the second Test match against England in Visakhapatnam. On day three of the match, Gill’s masterful innings of 104 runs off 147 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. This century marked his third in Test cricket and his first while batting at the number three position for India.
Despite the early loss of two wickets with India at 30-2, Gill’s partnership with Shreyas Iyer steadied the innings. The innings was a special one for Gill as he broke out of the slump in form he was experience in Test since he was given the job of being the No.3 batter. On the back of the young batter’s hundred, India would set a target of 399 for England. The visitors failed to get over the line and India won the match by 106 runs.
While Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery spell and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 209 has been viewed by many as the main factors for India’s win, credit should be given to Gill for his superlative knock under pressure as India now stands 1-1 locked with England when the third test begins in Rajkot on 15th February 2024.