Shubman Gill grew as batter and captain when India had backs to the wall

The National

11 hours ago

The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy will long be remembered for producing one of the most intense Test cricket battles seen in modern times.
A 2-2 series draw after 25 days of epic fightbacks and bravery was an apt result for both England and India.
While England will think long and hard about the six-run defeat at The Oval and the six dropped chances in the second innings that cost them a series win, India will be wondering about their own follies; be it dropping close to 10 chances in the first Test loss in Leeds or the incredulous dismissal of Mohammad Siraj that sealed their fate in the Lord's third Test.
It was rough, but a fair result in the end. More so because it would have been a travesty if India had lost the series after dominating or leading 31 sessions in the series to England's 20.
It would have been a particularly cruel initiation into Test captaincy for Shubman Gill.
Not many expected Gill to break batting records in England. After all, he had averaged just 14 after three Tests there. But it was different this time.
Flatter pitches and a softer Dukes ball meant bat dominated ball by a huge margin. Still, Gill proved to be the most prolific batter by a mile, finishing with a record 754 runs in the series, which was 200 more than the next best – Joe Root.
While history will remember Gill's near perfect second Test in Birmingham where he smashed 269 and 161 to set up a massive 336-run win, it was his effort in the fourth Test that was his defining innings.
In the third Test at Lord's and first innings in Manchester, Gill's traditional weakness against the ball coming in began to re-emerge. The right-handed batter was trapped lbw twice and doubts started to creep in.
When India were 0-2 in the second innings of the fourth Test, still trailing by more than 300, it was now or never for Gill the batter and captain.
There, Gill summoned every ounce of concentration and technique in his armoury to help thwart England for the best part of two days and keep India alive in the series.
The ball was misbehaving at Old Trafford and Jofra Archer was a perennial threat. But Gill took hits to the body and ignored the variable bounce to earn a draw that was as good as a win for him.
The series was set up perfectly at The Oval. He failed with the bat – getting run out and then trapped lbw once again. But the rest of the Indian batters picked up the slack.
A target of 374 was always going to be difficult on the most lively surface of the series. But Harry Brook and Root did not think so, as they belted Indian bowlers to all parts, racing to 301-3 and within touching distance of victory.
India were running low on fuel as they had mistakenly picked only three pacers when four were required. Brook then decided to finish the match in a hurry, lost his bat and wicket to Akash Deep, and gave India an opening in the match.
From there, Gill and India closed in. Prasidh Krishna hustled in to blow away Jacob Bethell before getting a stupefied Root caught behind.
That meant England needed 35 on the final day of the tour with four wickets in hand. It was clear the match would be over within the first hour as England were never going to do it in singles.
India only had two bowlers to make a match of it – Siraj and Krishna – as Deep had picked up another injury and was barely able to bowl with any intensity, taking injections to take the field.
Gill spread the field out and got England to either chase wide balls or defend from the stumps. There was almost nothing else in between.
As brilliant as Siraj was in conjuring victory out of thin air by producing a devastating spell on his 25th day of the series, Gill too played his cards well.
When an injured Chris Woakes came out to bat one-handed, Gus Atkinson looked to farm the strike and succeeded in keeping his partner on the non-striker's end, even hitting a crucial six off Siraj to bring the required runs down to single digits.
But Gill did not change tactics, nor did he bring in the field to stop the single as any mis-hit or edge could have flow away for a boundary and that would been game over.
Gill trusted in stopping the boundary and that is what ultimately proved to be the difference as a magic yorker from Siraj sealed a six-run win and share of the series.
India had made a huge blunder in benching wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav on dry surfaces in the first four Tests and an equally big mistake by playing only three pacers in the fifth.
In all likelihood, it was the team management and coach Gautam Gambhir's call to go one bowler short the entire series. But when the time came, Gill made the most of what he had and proved that stubborn determination can overcome any perceived deficiencies – be it in technique or team selection.