'My favourite journalist...': Shubman Gill mocks British reporter after ending India's Edgbaston curse
wasn't just keeping track of runs and wickets in India's historic Test win at Edgbaston—he was also keeping receipts.
After leading India to their first-ever Test victory in Birmingham, the 24-year-old walked into the post-match press conference with a grin and a mission. "I can't see my favourite journalist. Where is he? I wanted to see him," Gill said, scanning the room as the press chuckled.
It was a clear reference to a pre-match exchange, where a
British journalist
had pointedly reminded Gill of India's winless record at Edgbaston, noting that the team had never beaten England in nine previous matches at the venue.
— AnkanKar (@AnkanKar)
The moment, now circulating widely online, was seen as a confident clapback—not on social media, but after a landmark performance on the pitch.
Live Events
'I don't really believe in history and stats'
Further, Gill addressed the pressure of India's past failures at the venue.
'I even said before the Test match that I don't really believe in history and stats,' he said.
'Over the last 56 years or so, we've played nine matches—different teams have come here. I believe we are the best team to have come here in England, and we have the capability to beat them, to win the series from here.'
He added, 'If we keep making the right decisions and keep fighting, I think it would be one of the series to remember.'
Praise for India's pace attack
With
Jasprit Bumrah
rested for the Test, India's chances were doubted further. But Gill hailed his relatively inexperienced pace attack—Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna—for delivering under pressure.
'Our bowlers were magnificent. We are capable of taking 20 wickets anywhere,' he said.
'The consistency from both ends—Siraj, Akash, and even Prasidh—helped us win the little moments. That's what makes the difference.'
Gill also singled out the impact of the second new ball. 'When the ball is soft on a flat pitch, it's tough to stop runs. With the harder ball, wickets come easier. That second new ball spell changed the game for us.'
'We don't listen to outside noise'
On his own preparations, the captain revealed that he had begun working on technical aspects of his batting during the latter stages of the 2025 IPL season.
'I started working on some things during the last phase of the IPL,' he said.
Responding to recent scrutiny over his form and leadership, Gill remained unfazed. 'We don't listen to outside noise. Opinions change every game. If your teammates trust you, that's what matters.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Tough to digest double bagel, but Anisimova takes positives despite Wimbledon final nightmare
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel There were two so-called 'double bagels' at this year's Wimbledon -- the term used to describe a match ending 6-0 6-0 -- and American Amanda Anisimova starred in first one launched the 23-year-old on the path to her first Grand Slam final as she thrashed Yulia for her, she was on the receiving end of the second and it came at the worst possible front of a sweltering Centre Court crowd and millions of television viewers in Saturday's final, her hopes of winning the title evaporated in 57 cruel minutes as she was put through the wringer by Poland's Iga Swiatek The only other time a Wimbledon singles final was decided by a 6-0 6-0 scoreline was in 1911 when Dorothea Lambert Chambers beat fellow British player Dora Saturday, it had happened only once at any of the other Grand Slam finals , in 1988 when Steffi Graf demolished Natasha Zvereva in 34 minutes at the French Open. At least Anisimova almost stretched it to an is customary in tennis finals these days for the runner-up to say a few words before the probably wished Centre Court would open up and swallow her as she answered questions from former British player Annabel Croft, managing to hold herself together enough to say a few coherent words through the in the relative sanctuary of the media conference room, she was reflective as she spoke of how she had been frozen by nerves in the biggest match of her career."It was tough to digest, it's not how I would have wanted my first Grand Slam final to go, I think I was in shock afterwards. It's not an easy thing to go through, losing 0 and 0."A sense of perspective is perhaps easier for a player who was marked out as a future Grand Slam champion as a teenager but who needed to step away from the game for eight months in 2023 as she struggled with burnout and mental health year she did not even feature here, losing in the third round of qualifying when she was ranked despite how it ended, Anisimova preferred to try and take the positives from a run that included a scintillating semi-final win against world number one Aryna Sabalenka "I feel like the last two weeks, if anything, what I've learned it was you're never going to be perfect, and every match is different," Anisimova said."My fighting spirit has gotten me to the final of today. It wasn't me playing perfect in a way. There were matches where I struggled and I wasn't playing to my full potential. I think me just staying focused and fighting my way through certain moments and lifting myself up and trying to not get negative on myself was the most important thing."I think that's really what got me to the final."
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
No lead, no deficit, not an inch given: Lord's Test a one-innings shootout after bruising day; Ravindra Jadeja shines with gritty knock
Had it not been for his helmet grill, Nitish Kumar Reddy would have gotten a bloodied face courtesy a wicked Ben Stokes bouncer. Shoaib Bashir had to retire to the dressing room when a Ravindra Jadeja straight drive smashed his little finger. Jofra Archer would constantly aim his nasty 150 kph bouncers at the batsmen's head and on his follow through give a mean stare. And then there was Jadeja twirling his bat like a swordsman, showing the rivals the dexterity of his wrist and the sharpness of his blade. It was a battle out there at Lord's on the third day, with the series tied at 1-1 and nothing separating the teams in the third Test. India, like England, finished their innings on 387. There was no lead, no deficit. Before stumps, England had to play just one over and they finished 2/0. This was to be the moving day; it ended up as a day when the teams constantly had a go at each other to inch ahead in the game. None succeeded. The fierceness of the contest lasted till the final moments. Zak Crawley tried all tricks to ensure that England had to face just one over. He sent Jasprit Bumrah back to his mark at least thrice – taking his sweet time to take guard or saying there was some movement in front of the sight screen. When a ball barely touched his fingertips, he called for the physio. This almost triggered a bar brawl with India's entire slip cordon and Mohammed Siraj circling Crawley. The physio left the field after barely 5 seconds. Tempers flared, the umpires were trying to play negotiators. This was just a temporary ceasefire; the hostilities will commence again on Sunday. Shubman Gill & Co. didn't come to be played around, 𝙠𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙞 𝙔𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙝𝙣𝙚 𝙣𝙖𝙝𝙞, 𝙨𝙞𝙠𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙖𝙮𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣!#ENGvIND 👉 3rd TEST, DAY 4 | SUN 13th JULY, 2:30 PM | Streaming on JioHotstar — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 12, 2025 India was fighting tooth and Rishabh Pant's injured nail. KL Rahul and Pant blunted England's attack in the first session, before the latter's untimely run out. After that, Jadeja took charge in the company of two all-rounders – Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar – who justified the team management's decision to pick them over the specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. India's batting valour in the second session was the story of the day. That was the period when England's pace bowling was probably at its sharpest in the Test. Archer was firing every ball at around 145 kph or more. Playing a Test after four-and-a-half years, he was bending his back, exhaling the reb-ball bowling trapped inside him for long. He was making the ball jump at Indian batsmen from a good length. Probably showing the best bowling rhythm of the series so far, Stokes too was banging the ball short and getting seam movement. The 22 yards at Lord's wasn't a 'safe zone' for the batsmen. It needed skills and courage to survive. Reddy and Jadeja showed both. If not for them India would have conceded a bigger lead and had they not held their own against Archer and Stokes, England would have got more time in the game to bat and put pressure on India, who are to bat last. They played like frontline batsmen quite used to playing the new ball. Reddy would ride on the rising ball and make it drop to his legs. He did the good old duck, he would weave away from the line. In between, he would get hit on his gloves or rib cage. And Stokes would get that one ball to hit the visor. Despite the protection, his cheek would feel the impact of the blow. There was tension in the air as the Indian support staff ran onto the field. The sight of Reddy nursing his wound with an ice pack showed the injury was not as bad as it looked. Third consecutive fifty for @royalnavghan ⚔ 89 at Edgbaston69* at Edgbaston50* at Lord's He is proving why #TeamIndia 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘩𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘩𝘪, 𝘴𝘪𝘬𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘢𝘺𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯! 💪#ENGvIND 👉 3rd TEST, DAY 3 | LIVE NOW on JioHotstar 👉 — Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) July 12, 2025 Jadeja seemed more skilled at taking on the pacers. He was quick to judge the length of the short balls and leave them. He swayed away from the line, keeping his eyes on the ball all the time. One shouldn't be surprised with Jadeja's ability to deal with bouncers. At one point, when Jadeja used to play domestic cricket regularly, there was a running joke in the Saurashtra dressing room about the all-rounder's obsession with short-balls. During training and even on match days, Jadeja would ask the coaches to hurl short balls at him. He would either pull them, defend them, or sway away. He would even ask his teammates to give him short-ball practice. As Jadeja was going through the drill after a game, a player joked with him: 'So this would be the 10,000th short-ball you have faced. Isn't it?'. Jadeja would smile and ask him to head to the team bus. One of Jadeja's teammates from that time is India's batting coach these days. Sitanshu Kotak spends long hours with him at the nets. Short-ball training is a major part of his routine. They also spend a lot of time talking about cricket. Just before the England tour, Jadeja spoke of the bond he shares with Kotak. This was on a podcast with R Ashwin. He opened up when Ashwin asked him who is a friend he wouldn't think twice to call even at 2 am. 'I will say Kotak. He talks with maturity, he talks about cricket and he doesn't do 'faltu' talk. He also doesn't do that 'feel good' talk,' he said. This wasn't a day when 'feel good' talk would have worked, this was a day of blood and bruises. And Jadeja was war-ready.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Virat Kohli student: Fans in love with Shubman Gill after Zak Crawley spat
Well, the Indian cricket team fans have fallen in love captain Shubman Gill after his spat with Zak Crawley in the final over of Day 3 of the Lord's Test. Gill decided to have a go at the England openers, especially Crawley after they decided to pull off some timewasting antics to ensure they didn't have to face the music from the Indian pacers and end the day. advertisementCrawley faced the final over and kept moving away to ensure that time was being wasted in the middle. This didn't sit well with Gill, who went up to Crawley and had some choice words for the England opener as the rest of the Indian team joined in. Then came the fifth ball of the over, Crawley got hit on the gloves and decided to take a timeout to get the physio on the field. This brought out a funny side of Gill, who went up and threw up the X sign sarcastically to mock the England opener. Always annoying when you can't get another over in before close England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 12, 2025Soon enough, the whole Indian team started to clap for Crawley, and he got into a verbal back and forth with captain Gill. England ended the day with a two-run lead as India and the hosts were level as both teams had the same score of 387. Things have certainly heated up for Day 4, with Michael Atherton being a fan of the drama. The former England captain said it was brilliant drama and the perfect end to the day. "It felt like five minutes where I wouldn't mind being out there!""It was brilliant drama, great theatre. Harry Brook was laughing his head off on the England balcony when we looked up.""There was a bit of chit-chat but I didn't mind that. It was a red-blooded contest and you have to give players a bit of leeway.""I loved watching it. I thought it was a fantastic end to a nip-and-tuck day."How did the fans react to the Gill-Crawley spat?Many fans were happy to see Gill show his aggressive side, much like Virat Kohli during his tenure as the Indian captain. Some even called Gill a student of Kohli, while the rest of them fully backed the Indian captain. Here are some of the reactions: The drama is expected to continue on Day 4 as the Lord's Test has heated up and set for a thrilling climax. - EndsTune InMust Watch
