 "Akash Deep was the pick of the Indian bowlers in the second Test against England at Edgbaston with figures of 4/88 and 6/99. Reuters")
India captain Shubman Gill heaped praise on his teammates for being “spot on” with their plans after leading the visitors to a thumping 336-run victory in the second Test against England at Edgbaston on Sunday. Gill collected his maiden victory in just his second match as Test skipper as India bounced back in style after their five-wicket loss at Headingley, Leeds to level the series 1-1.
“All the things we spoke about after the first game, we were spot on with all of those things. Our bowling and fielding was tremendous to see. On this kind of wicket, we knew if we get 400-500 on this kind of wicket, we’ll be in the game,” Gill said during the post-match presentation ceremony, where he received the Player of the Match award.
“Not everytime we’re going to drop that many catches that we did in Headingley. They (fast bowlers) were magnificent and I think the way we were able to get through the top-order, that was important to us, and both those bowlers bowled brilliantly and even Prasidh, he didn’t get as many wickets as them, but he also bowled brilliantly,” he added.
India ended up outplaying England with bat as well as with ball across five days of the second Test to register their maiden Test victory at Edgbaston in their ninth attempt. Gill led from the front with knocks of 269 and 161 to become the batter with the second-most runs in a single Test after Graham Gooch.
‘Just magnificent for us’: Gill on Akash
And in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj shone bright as they accounted for 17 of the 20 English wickets that fell in Birmingham, with the former collecting not just his maiden international five-for as well as 10-wicket match haul.
“He (Akash Deep) bowled with so much heart. The areas and lengths he hit, he was getting the ball to move both ways. On wickets like these, it’s difficult to do that, he was just magnificent for us,” Gill added, heaping praise on the Bengal pacer who made just his seventh Test appearance at Edgbaston.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIndia ended up scoring more than 1,000 runs in the second Test and bundled England out for 271 after setting the Ben Stokes-led hosts a mammoth 608-run target to draw level in style. And captain Gill played a major role in laying the foundation for the emphatic victory at Edgbaston with his incredible knocks, the second one coming at nearly run-a-ball that ensured India declared on 427 on Day 4 with plenty of time to bowl England out.
“I’d say I’m feeling comfortable with my game, hopefully if we win the series with my contributions, I’ll feel happier. Everyday is a learning curve for me. Whenever I go out there, I’ve said this before, I just want to play as a batsman and I want to think as a batsman and I want to make my decisions and risk management as a batsman. Sometimes when you are out there and thinking as a captain, you don’t take that risks which I think as a batsman sometimes is necessary,” Gill continued.
Gill also confirmed Jasprit Bumrah’s participation in the third Test at Lord’s, which gets underway four days from now on Thursday.
“Definitely. Very excited for that (Lord’s Test). Probably the most iconic cricket stadium in the world and as a kid everyone dreams about playing there and I think no bigger honour than to be able to captain your country and lead your team there,” the 25-year-old added.
‘Things could have been a little different’
England captain Stokes, meanwhile, rued letting the game slip from their grasp after electing to field for the second consecutive match and reducing India to 211/5, adding that it was always going to be an uphill task for them to avoid defeat after getting reduced to 84/5 in response to Gill and Co’s mammoth first innings total of 587.
Captain Gill led from the front with a knock of 269 in the first innings and found ideal support in all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the other end, with the two adding 203 for the sixth wicket. Gill would then add 144 for the seventh wicket with Washington Sundar (42), another all-rounder, ensuring India finished within touching distance of the 600-mark.
Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep would later wreak havoc with the new ball as England lost half of their side with less than 100 on the board. Harry Brook (158) and Jamie Smith (184 not out) came to the hosts’ rescue with a mammoth 303-run stand for the sixth wicket that played a key role in helping England cross 400 and avoid a follow-on.
“Tough one. Two moments. Having them at 200/5 and not being able to burst them open. And then being 80/5 in our reply to India’s big 1st innings there is obviously going to be tough to be able to scrape it back from there. You look back at the start of the game, 200/5, if we were able to gets some wickets quicker, things could have been a little different,” Stokes, who was dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings, said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“As the game got deeper and deeper, it sort of turned into a wicket, probably suited India more than us to be honest. Being 80/5 in reply to India’s big first innings total is obviously going to be tough from there. We ran in and tried everything, we changed plans and when a team is on top of you, obviously India is a class team,” he added.
The pace-bowling all-rounder also praised wicketkeeper-batter Smith, who had sealed his team’s five-wicket triumph at Headingley with an unbroken partnership with Joe Root and was the standout performer among the the Englishmen in Birmingham by following up his unbeaten 184 with a knock of 88 on Sunday.
“Jamie has been incredible since he came into the team, he has been exceptional with the bat and he goes massively into the radar with his wicket-keeping. Just shows that his natural game and the way him and Harry were able to wrestle the momentum back towards us, I thought it was very very special part of the game to watch from the dressing room.
“Been another tough week, spend some time in the field and bowlers have run in hard all week again. We got to reset on everything and see where we end up come Lord’s,” Stokes signed off.