London [UK], August 4 : Captain Shubman Gill came out in support of under-fire Karun Nair and emphasised the value of his gritty 57 in India's fabled six-run victory in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England at The Oval.
India lost the toss for the fifth consecutive time and were forced to bat. The blistering spell from England's quicks left India reeling at 83/3, which forced Karun Nair to play the rescue act. He settled the nerves and navigated India past the 200-run mark under tricky conditions.
While the surface was covered in lush grass, the gloomy conditions further put Nair in a tight spot. Nair, who had a torrid run coming into the Test, remained unfazed, respected the troubling deliveries and hammered 57(109), his highest score in the format in the last eight years. He steadied India's sinking ship before being pinned in front of the stumps by Josh Tongue.
In the second outing, he sustained a blow on his first delivery and batted gingerly to pull off a rustic 17(32), marking the end of the series. Nair appeared on the radar, and his place in the setup was questioned by many. Gill shot down all the critics, declaring that while everyone will have their opinions, the management will ultimately decide what is best for the team.
"I think Karun's 50 in the first inning was equally important for us, which brought us close to a decent total. I think these things will always be opinions, because they are made after the match. Once people see it, they do this, they do that. I think all these things go on. But at that moment, you have to weigh which thing is more important for you," Gill said in the post-match press conference.
"We thought in this wicket, our three fast bowlers would be able to do the job for us. And I think they delivered. And when your decision goes well, people obviously praise you. When it doesn't go well, I am aware that there are going to be shots taken at me, which I am fine with, because at the end of the day, I know that I made a decision which was the best for our team," he added.
On the final day, a heavy roller was used, which would have made the job for India much harder, considering they had 35 runs to defend and four wickets to scythe, to successfully defend their 373-run target. Many expected that India would try to restrict England for long enough to exercise the option of using the new ball.
However, even with the old ball, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna bowled in tandem to bring thunder down the crease with their sizzling pace. The duo managed to move the ball like a yo-yo and left England bamboozled to seal a memorable series-levelling victory for India. Gill explained the rationale behind opting against deploying the new ball even after it was available, claiming that they didn't feel the need for it.
"Firstly, yes, we did have the option of a second new ball. But I think the way Siraj and Prasidh were bowling, we didn't feel like we needed a new ball. They can do the job for us, even if it's an 84-over-old ball. And secondly, we thought that we still have the wicket-taking options on this wicket...If they want to make runs, they will have to hit boundaries. But rather, let them have 30 singles and score those 30 runs rather than score 5-6 boundaries," he said.
"We knew that they were under a lot of pressure. If any team is in that position, they always put more pressure on the batting team because it's a one-ball game. So, we knew that the longer we could take the game, the greater the probability we would have because there are more chances of a wicket-taking ball falling," he added.
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