'Take us lightly at your own peril': Shubman Gill's young India serve thumping notice, Bazball England into submission

Hindustan Times

20 hours ago

An unprecedented five centuries. A five-wicket haul for the best bowler in the world. A target of 371 to defend in the final innings. And yet, a five-wicket loss which was every bit as emphatic as the margin suggests. India's Akash Deep celebrates with teammates after winning the match (Action Images via Reuters)
Headingley was touted as the 'unlosable' Test that, somehow, India had managed to throw away.
How would they shape up at winless Edgbaston? Where, in eight previous attempts, they had courted seven defeats? Without the best bowler in the world? With England's confidence on a high and their own morale certain to have taken a beating after the developments in Leeds?
It was inevitable that, in Jasprit Bumrah's absence, questions would be raised about the efficacy of the Indian bowling, about its ability to dismiss England twice on another flat track that is fast becoming a legacy of the Bazball brand of cricket. There were fears that for all the munificence of their batters, India would be sent on a hiding to nothing by England's marauding willow-wielders.
How wrong everyone was to be proved.
Shubman Gill's India arrive
The 336-run victory over five dominant days must go down as one of the more famous triumphs in Indian Test history. One with very little parallel, if that. Maybe not in the same league as their come-from-behind conquest of Australia in Kolkata in March 2001, or their surreal defeat of the same opponents with less than half the original starting eleven in Brisbane in January 2021. But it's right up there, with the very best, don't worry about it.
A young captain in only his second Test in charge. A bowling group that, apart from Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja, didn't contain anyone else with even 30 wickets. A management core that opted to shore up the batting and leave out wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav even though it was without the magic of Bumrah. Washington Sundar for Sai Sudharsan was seen as a conservative move. What were these guys up to?
These guys – Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir – knew what they were doing, didn't they? They knew what they needed to do, they knew how to go about doing what they needed to do. They were gifted first use of a terrific batting strip by Ben Stokes, a preferred methodology for new England who believe no target in the fourth innings is beyond them. Well, guess what? 608 was beyond them. 336 beyond them. For all their 'we will chase anything down' bravado. Hmph.
What will this win do for Gill's India? For one thing, it sets up the series beautifully. 1-1 with three to play, Bumrah to figure in two of them. And as much as the conviction and the margin of the victory, the fact that India kept England on the park for 151 overs in the first innings and 83 in the second is already catalysing repercussions. England have added paceman Gus Atkinson to their jumbo 15-man squad, they have opted to take Tuesday too off ahead of the third Test, at Lord's from Thursday. Clearly, their physical reserves are stretched.
If they weren't earlier, England will now be even more wary of the huge threat this young Indian side poses. The batting is purring along beautifully with the indefatigable skipper, who has 585 runs from four innings, at the forefront and the other parts ticking over smoothly. But it's India's bowling that England will have developed new-found respect for.
On a shirtfront in the first dig, Mohammed Siraj finished with six for 70. Throughout the match, Akash Deep, playing his first Test since last December, was a constant force, attacking the stumps, bringing the bowled and the leg before into play, backing up a four-for in the first innings with six for 99 in the second. England, and the rest of the cricketing world, are unlikely to look at India as only a one-man army from here on. It's possible, likely even, that one or both of Siraj and Deep will struggle to replicate their Edgbaston heroics over the next month. But they have shown what they can do, so how can one rule out them doing it again? And maybe again after again, too?
For Gill, this win is immense because he will trust his instincts more, he will begin to be convinced that he belongs as captain and leader. For his team, this win couldn't have come at a more opportune moment because it carried the message that belief and perseverance will not go in vain. There is no greater driving force for a young unit playing collectively for the first time in a place like England than an against-all-odds victory, fashioned with flair and panache and authority and dominance. The transitory phase couldn't have begun more encouragingly.