Majestic Gill ton guides India to 310-5 on day one of second England Test
Gill was under pressure due to his team selection after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested, but the skipper played a dogged knock and barely put a foot wrong as he wore down the England bowlers while playing confident strokes.
Gill had taken 199 balls to bring up his seventh Test hundred, the slowest of his career but authoritative in the circumstances as he ended the day unbeaten on 114 while he had Ravindra Jadeja (41 not out) for company at stumps.
After Ben Stokes won the toss and put India in to bat, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal looked well set for a big score but fell in the second session to the England skipper when he was on 87 to miss out on his second ton in the series.
India have never won a Test at Edgbaston in eight attempts and when they were reeling at 211-5, England threatened to reopen wounds from the first Test at Headingley, where the tourists' lower order collapsed in both innings.
But Jadeja walked in to steady the ship and consolidated the innings with a 99-run partnership with Gill as the all-rounder rotated strike without taking any undue risks, propelling his skipper towards triple figures.
As England eagerly waited for the new ball, Joe Root bowled the 80th over in a bid to surprise the set batters but after four dot balls, Gill executed two fine sweeps to bring up a second century in the series.
Rahul falls
Earlier, India lost opener KL Rahul cheaply when he played on a rising delivery from Chris Woakes while Karun Nair, who was promoted up the order, fell for 31, caught in the slips just before lunch after playing some exquisite drives.
Jaiswal saw off the new ball early on in cloudy conditions but once the lush green outfield was bathed in sunshine he got into his groove and scored at nearly a run a ball, with Josh Tongue bearing the brunt of his onslaught.
Gill took the majority of the strike in the second session while Jaiswal watched on and that was when Stokes made the breakthrough.
Having scored a century in the opening Test, Jaiswal was on 87 when he sliced at a wide delivery and was caught behind by an ecstatic Jamie Smith to leave India on 161-3.
That brought Rishabh Pant to the crease and the wicketkeeper-batter, who smashed two centuries in the first test, launched spinner Shoaib Bashir over the deep mid-wicket boundary for the first six of the match.
But Bashir had the last laugh as Pant (25) lived dangerously and the batter made another attempt to clear the ropes, only to find Zak Crawley in the deep, opening the door to the lower order.
Nitish Kumar Reddy came in and lasted six balls when Woakes struck again, tempting the India batter to leave a superb delivery that nipped back in and hit the top of off stump to send the bails flying.
England had named the same team and India made three changes, resting Bumrah as they manage his back issues through the series — a decision that baffled former players and coaches.
Sai Sudharsan and Shardul Thakur were dropped, with Reddy, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep coming into the side to strengthen the lower order.
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Khaleej Times
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Dubai Eye
a day ago
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England trail by 510 after Gill heroics and Indian pacers' early strike
England stumbled to 77-3 to trail India by 510 runs on day two of the second test at Edgbaston after skipper Shubman Gill scored a record-breaking 269 and their seamers struck early to put the tourists in a commanding position. India were charged up when Akash Deep picked up two wickets in two balls before Mohammed Siraj also got in on the act to clean up England's top order and leave them tottering at 25-3 on what had been a good batting wicket. Ben Duckett nicked a ball to third slip where Gill took a smart diving catch before Ollie Pope fell the very next delivery for a duck when Deep drew an edge and the ball flew to KL Rahul in the slips. Dropped catches had cost India the first test at Headingley but this time they stuck as Siraj drew an edge from Zak Crawley to find Karun Nair at first slip while Harry Brook survived a review for lbw thanks to the umpire's call. But Brook (30) and Joe Root (18) absorbed the pressure to see out the day with an unbeaten 52-run partnership. Earlier, Gill became the first Indian to score more than 250 outside the Indian subcontinent, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of 241, while he also recorded the highest score by an India captain when he went past Virat Kohli's 254. Gill had hardly put a foot wrong over the first two days of the test but he briefly lost his concentration after tea when he tried to dispatch a short ball from Josh Tongue, only to find Pope at square leg. But the Edgbaston crowd rose to their feet to salute the captain's knock as he walked back to the pavilion, his job done after India found themselves reeling at 211-5 on day one. Having resuming on an overnight score of 310-5, Jadeja and Gill had built a 203-run stand before the all-rounder fell to a Tongue bouncer but Gill looked completely at ease on a flat track that offered precious little assistance. As England's bowling attack toiled under the summer sun, Gill hardly broke sweat and put a price on his wicket as he showcased his array of elegant drives and well-timed flicks to pile on the runs. Gill made his trademark bow once again after becoming the first India skipper to score a double-hundred in England and soon broke Sunil Gavaskar's 46-year-old record for the highest score by an Indian in England (221 in 1979). He was soon toying with the attack and the placement of fielders, coolly switching between sublime and unorthodox shots as he dispatched the ball to all corners of the ground. With Washington Sundar playing patiently at the other end, Gill was in Twenty20 mode as they cruised past the 500-mark and a rare outside edge went for a boundary to take the captain to 250. Root finally broke the seventh-wicket partnership of 144 when a delivery broke through the defence of Sundar as he departed for a well-made 42. India's tail added only 13 runs after Gill's dismissal, but that gave their bowlers 20 overs to take a crack at England's batters on a fruitful day as they look to level the series.
ARN News Center
a day ago
- ARN News Center
England trail by 510 after Gill heroics and Indian pacers' early strike
England stumbled to 77-3 to trail India by 510 runs on day two of the second test at Edgbaston after skipper Shubman Gill scored a record-breaking 269 and their seamers struck early to put the tourists in a commanding position. India were charged up when Akash Deep picked up two wickets in two balls before Mohammed Siraj also got in on the act to clean up England's top order and leave them tottering at 25-3 on what had been a good batting wicket. Ben Duckett nicked a ball to third slip where Gill took a smart diving catch before Ollie Pope fell the very next delivery for a duck when Deep drew an edge and the ball flew to KL Rahul in the slips. Dropped catches had cost India the first test at Headingley but this time they stuck as Siraj drew an edge from Zak Crawley to find Karun Nair at first slip while Harry Brook survived a review for lbw thanks to the umpire's call. But Brook (30) and Joe Root (18) absorbed the pressure to see out the day with an unbeaten 52-run partnership. Earlier, Gill became the first Indian to score more than 250 outside the Indian subcontinent, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of 241, while he also recorded the highest score by an India captain when he went past Virat Kohli's 254. Gill had hardly put a foot wrong over the first two days of the test but he briefly lost his concentration after tea when he tried to dispatch a short ball from Josh Tongue, only to find Pope at square leg. But the Edgbaston crowd rose to their feet to salute the captain's knock as he walked back to the pavilion, his job done after India found themselves reeling at 211-5 on day one. Having resuming on an overnight score of 310-5, Jadeja and Gill had built a 203-run stand before the all-rounder fell to a Tongue bouncer but Gill looked completely at ease on a flat track that offered precious little assistance. As England's bowling attack toiled under the summer sun, Gill hardly broke sweat and put a price on his wicket as he showcased his array of elegant drives and well-timed flicks to pile on the runs. Gill made his trademark bow once again after becoming the first India skipper to score a double-hundred in England and soon broke Sunil Gavaskar's 46-year-old record for the highest score by an Indian in England (221 in 1979). He was soon toying with the attack and the placement of fielders, coolly switching between sublime and unorthodox shots as he dispatched the ball to all corners of the ground. With Washington Sundar playing patiently at the other end, Gill was in Twenty20 mode as they cruised past the 500-mark and a rare outside edge went for a boundary to take the captain to 250. Root finally broke the seventh-wicket partnership of 144 when a delivery broke through the defence of Sundar as he departed for a well-made 42. India's tail added only 13 runs after Gill's dismissal, but that gave their bowlers 20 overs to take a crack at England's batters on a fruitful day as they look to level the series.
