2nd Test: Run Machine Shubman Gill, Pacers Put India In Driver's Seat vs England

NDTV

a day ago

Shubman Gill 's insatiable appetite for runs resulted in a second hundred of the game as India set an impossible 608-run target, throwing down the gauntlet to England's Bazballers who were staring down the barrel going into day five of the second Test in Birmingham. Gill (161 off 162 balls) turned himself into a virtual 'Run Machine', smashing his third hundred in four innings following his epic 269 in the first essay. The other contributions in the second innings came from Ravindra Jadeja (69 not out), Rishabh Pant (65) and KL Rahul (55) as India declared their second innings at 427 for six.
The Indian pacers once again got the new ball to talk with Akash Deep accounting for the dangerous Ben Duckett and the dependable Joe Root while and Mohammed Siraj had Zak Crawley caught at backward point with a full outswinger, reducing the hosts to 72 for three in 16 overs at stumps on day four.
The timing of India's declaration, that came one hour after tea, was questioned by the experts and fans alike with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara saying on air that India should have declared at least half hour earlier.
The England fans in the fabled Hollies stand chanted 'boring boring' when declaration was not announced despite Gill's dismissal. The booing followed soon after.
Gill, who got to three figures at the stroke of tea, stepped up his offensive against the spin duo of Shoaib Bashir and part timer Joe Root, employing the sweep to deep square and mid-wicket fence regularly.
His innings included13 fours and eight sixes and took his match tally of runs to 430, surpassing the great Sunil Gavaskar 's record (344 against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1971) for most runs by an Indian.
He also became the second Indian after Gavaskar to get a 200 and 100 in the same Test.
The wickets have been flat and produced mountain of runs but India have already aggregated seven hundreds on the tour, unprecedented in an away series.
It would be interesting to see what approach England adopts though their philosophy in the Ben Stokes - Brendon McCullum is driven by results and not draws. The only draw in the Bazball era, the Old Trafford game in Ashes 2023, was caused by rain.
Gill changed gears post the lunch break to push the scoring rate before completing his second hundred of the game at the stroke of tea.
He brought the rare milestone with a single off Bashir in the penultimate over before the tea break.
Following his double in the first innings, the hundred celebrations were not over the top, signalling his focus on levelling the series.
Gill shared a 110-run stand with Rishabh Pant (65 off 58) who exhibited breathtaking strokeplay and departed in a fitting fashion, losing control of his bat in his attempt to whack Shoaib Bashir out of the park.
If Gill was the attacked by English bowlers in the morning session, he took the onus upon himself to take the attack back to the opposition camp in the second one.
Josh Tongue tried the short ball against Gill at the start of the session and Gill was happy to pull it over fine leg on two occasions. His knock included a flat batted boundary off Tongue while the Indian captain showed total disdain when Bashir was in operation.
In the morning session, KL Rahul lost his middle stump to a beauty from Tongue before Pant made the morning session more entertaining with his inimitable strokeplay, leaving India at 177 for three at lunch.
The 13-over old ball was expected to do a bit in cloudy conditions and it did for the England pacers especially Brydon Carse who bowled his heart out in the session.
Rahul (55 off 84) played some majestic cover drives before being undone by a peach from Tongue that straightened from an angle to uproot the Indian batter's middle stump.
Karun Nair (26 off 46) was the first wicket to fall on the day, a result of Carse's relentless pressure. Soon after being driven for four, Carse continued to lure Nair into a drive and was rewarded with an outside edge to the wicket-keeper.
The tall bowler, who dismissed Nair with a snorter in the first innings, hit Nair's grille with a nasty bouncer, prompting a concussion check.
Pant came out in the 30th over and went ballistic from the get go. He smashed Josh Tongue for a four and a six over mid-off to make his intentions clear before executing a falling pick up shot off Ben Stokes that went all the way.
The crowd thoroughly enjoyed the battle between Pant and England bowlers. Towards the end of the session, Pant attempted a wild slog off Tongue but the bat slipped out his hands. Jamie Smith did well to collect the ball behind the stumps.