'He is very clear in his head': Yashasvi Jaiswal defends Shubman Gill as captain after 'incredible' century

Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal praised captain Shubman Gill after the first day of the second Test against England at Edgbaston. Speaking at the press conference, Jaiswal said Gill is doing a great job as both a captain and a batter. He was asked about Gill’s batting and captaincy in the series.

“It’s amazing to see the way he has been batting. Incredible innings. As a captain also he has been amazing. He is very clear in his head what he wants to do with the team. We are very confident about our plans,” Jaiswal said.

Shubman Gill remained unbeaten on 114 at the end of Day 1, helping India reach 310 for 5. Jaiswal also played a strong innings, scoring 87 before getting out to a wide ball from Ben Stokes.

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Jaiswal on his batting and pitch

“It is disappointing to get out like that but it is part of game. But I want to enjoy the game at the same time. I try to find a solution what can be good in this situation (when he is challenged). Plans are always in the mind," Jaiswal said about his own batting after he fell short of a century by just 13 runs.

“I really enjoyed batting. Initially, I was playing the session and they were bowling well. The wicket was damp. Compared to Leeds, there is less seam movement and bounce here,” he added.

Apart from Gill and Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Karun Nair, and Rishabh Pant also contributed. Jadeja remained unbeaten at 41 off 67 balls, while Nair and Pant contributed with 31 and 25 runs respectively.

India’s selection call raises questions

India adopted a measured approach with the bat after picking three all-rounders in the playing eleven at the cost of specialist bowling resources, raising plenty of questions.

Like Leeds, the Edgbaston surface is offering plenty of runs and with no Jasprit Bumrah in the attack, India would need to put up a total in excess of 500 to make a match of it.

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With premier match winner Bumrah rested from the game, India brought in Akash Deep in his place while making two interesting changes, leaving out Sai Sudharsan for Washington Sundar and replacing Shardul Thakur with Nitish Kumar Reddy.

Kuldeep Yadav was once again ignored as India picked a second spinner in batting all-rounder Washington. For a team that struggled to take 20 wickets at Leeds, the decision to shore up the batting was debatable.

(With agency inputs)