 "India captain Shubman Gill celebrates after completing his double-century on Day 2 of the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham. AP")
Captain Shubman Gill revealed working on “a few things” at the end of the Indian Premier League last month after putting the Indian team in the driver’s seat with a majestic double-century on Day 2 of the second Test against England in Birmingham .
Gill broke Virat Kohli’s record for the highest score by an Indian Test captain as he smashed his way to 269 – missing out on becoming just the third Indian to score a triple hundred by 31 runs. His knock, along with Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s contributions of 89 and 87 respectively, helped India post a mammoth 587 on the board on the second day at Edgbaston.
The 25-year-old had scored just 88 runs in three Tests in England before the ongoing series – including in the ICC World Test Championship finals against New Zealand and Australia in 2021 and 2023 respectively – at an average of 14.66. Gill, however, has been a different beast in the ongoing series, having scored 424 runs in just three innings at a stunning average of 141.33.
“Good position to be in. I worked on a few things and at the end of IPL, which is very important before going into Test cricket. Looking at how things gave gone so far, it is working for me,” Gill said in a chat with Dinesh Karthik on Sky Sports at stumps on Day 2.
‘Nice to get those catches’
Gill also praised his team’s slip catching in the evening session on Thursday. Akash Deep, replacing Jasprit Bumrah in the XI at Edgbaston, struck twice in as many deliveries in his second over while senior pacer Mohammed Siraj struck shortly after as the English top three comprising openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett and No 3 Ollie Pope perished with just 25 runs on the board.
And what was impressive was the fact that all three nicked the ball to the slips – a region where multiple catches had been put down in the series opener at Headingley, Leeds.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“I did not take any slip catches for the last couple of days because I was batting, but nice to get those catches. Fielding was very important and we discussed about it that if we were half as good in the previous game, things would have been different,” Gill added during the conversation, reflecting on India’s marked improvement in the fielding department.
India currently are trailing England 0-1 in the five-match series after suffering a five-wicket defeat in the first Test. Not only are they aiming to level the series ahead of the third Test at Lord’s, they will also be hoping to end a winless run at ‘Fortress Edgbaston’.