2nd Test: Shubman Gill's majestic 269, pacers lead India’s dominating day at Edgbaston

Birmingham, July 3 India captain Shubman Gill slammed a majestic career-best 269 while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj struck to wreck England’s top order to make it a dominating Day Two for the visitors in the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Edgbaston here on Thursday.

Day Two, though, solely belonged to Gill, who truly walked the talk of being the best batter in this series for India. At 211/5, a total worth 450 wasn’t a practical possibility for India. But Gill stepped up stunningly to hit his career-best knock in Tests.

It was a statement knock where Gill passed every challenge with his grit and determination to bat for more than eight hours and post the highest score by an Indian batter in Tests in England, as well as for an Indian captain overall in the format.

He also received excellent support from spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar (42) for stitching stands of 203 and 144 for the sixth and seventh wickets, respectively. For England, who didn’t get much help on offer, Shoaib Bashir ended with figures of 3-167, while Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue took 2-81 and 2-119 respectively.

In reply, Akash Deep, getting a game in place of rested Jasprit Bumrah, gave India further advantage by picking 2-36 while Siraj returned with 1-21. Though Harry Brook and Joe Root are unbeaten on 30 and 18 respectively, England have a huge task at hand on Day Three after reaching 77/3 in 20 overs at stumps, and the deficit still stands at 510 runs.

With his technical excellence in attacking bowlers and being water-tight in defence against good balls, Gill left everyone in awe of his knock, laced with 30 fours and three sixes. He is now the second Test captain to make a double ton in England, and is also the holder of the seventh highest score for an Indian batter in Tests.

The day began with Gill getting a single through the leg-side, which brought up the hundred of his sixth wicket partnership with Jadeja. The duo would take four each off Woakes before Jadeja brought up his 23rd Test fifty with a clip off the pacer and brought out the sword-wielding celebrations.

Jadeja would take two fours off Stokes, before Gill leaned into a wonderful drive off Woakes for four. With Brydon Carse struggling due to soreness, Gill hit him for back-to-back boundaries – a short-arm jab was followed by a sweet drive. Though Carse resorted to a short-ball ploy, and Shoaib Bashir not much threatening, Gill brought up his first 150 score in Tests off 263 balls.

Jadeja then punched Josh Tongue for four, before dancing down the pitch to loft Bashir over his head for a straight six, and brought up India's 400. Gill then slog-swept the spinner for six more to bring up the 200th run of his partnership with Jadeja.

England finally got a breakthrough in the 108th over when Tongue bowled a short ball from around the wicket, and Jadeja jumped in the air to try and fend it away, but the glove edge was grabbed by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith. Gill and Sundar, who survived a fiery spell from Tongue at the fag end, ensured India didn’t lose any other wicket going into lunch break.

Gill’s great handling of Bashir continued in the second session, when he picked a four and a six off drive and a loft respectively. He then crunched Tongue for two fours, before Sundar took charge by clipping Bashir for four, before flaying and pulling Tongue for six.

Gill then pulled a short ball from Tongue to bring up his 200, before punching the air while going down on one knee, and made a trademark bow to his team-mates and the crowd. Gill continued to be great by smacking Bashir for two fours, before cutting, punching, and creaming Brook for three boundaries.

He continued to dominate England by carting Carse, Bashir, and Brook for boundaries, the last of which went past a vacant slip area to get his 250. Sundar’s resistance ended on 42 off 103 balls when he played down the wrong line and was castled by Root. Gill came forward to drive Root for four before the second session firmly ended in India’s favour.

The final session began sedately, before Gill tried to hook a short ball from Tongue, but picked out square leg, as the Indian skipper Gill received a standing ovation from the Edgbaston crowd. Bashir rounded off India’s innings when Akash Deep holed out to long-on, before having Mohammed Siraj stumped.

England’s innings began with Zak Crawley crunching Akash for two fours, before the pacer staged a mini comeback. He found the perfect line to draw the outside edge of Ben Duckett, and Gill, who had just come back onto the field, flew to his left to take a spectacular catch, as the opener fell for a duck.

On the very next ball, Ollie Pope tried to flick a fuller ball from Akash, but the outside edge was caught by KL Rahul on the second attempt in slips, as England's two centurions from the Leeds Test went back without scoring. England continued to sink when Siraj got a hint of movement and drew the outside edge of Zak Crawley, who pushed to Karun Nair at first slip.

With Root and Brook hanging in, the duo managed to bring some stability to England’s innings. Brook was proficient on his drive, loft, and flick, fetching him boundaries, before flicking and carving Prasidh Krishna for two more fours to be unbeaten alongside Root, as stumps arrived on a day which truly belonged to India and Gill.

Brief scores:

India 587 in 151 overs (Shubman Gill 269, Ravindra Jadeja 89, Yashasvi Jaiswal 87, Washington Sundar 42; Shoaib Bashir 3-167, Chris Woakes 2-81, Josh Tongue 2-119) lead England 77/3 in 20 overs (Harry Brook 30 not out, Zak Crawley 19; Akash Deep 2-36, Mohammed Siraj 1-21) by 510 runs

--IANS

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