a day ago
Shubman Gill Shatters Records With Double Century, Carries India To 564/7 At Tea
The track remains flat, posing a challenge for India's inexperienced bowling attack to take 20 wickets.
Despite the favourable batting conditions, Gill's epic double hundred remains brilliant. Gill, who expressed his desire to be the best batter of the series, is on course to achieve his goal after becoming the first Asian skipper to score a double century in England.
In the Indian context, Gill went past legends Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid to record the highest individual score by an Indian batter in England.
Beyond the numbers, Gill's achievement is notable as this high-profile series is his first as Test skipper.
Gill has also made the number four position his own after ace batter Virat Kohli's retirement. He ensured India didn't relinquish their advantage to England, unlike in Leeds during the series opener.
With England's short-ball strategy failing and Shoaib Bashir being dispatched by Gill, England resorted to part-timers Harry Brook and Joe Root in desperation.
Gill smacked five fours off Brook while Sundar held his ground at the other end. The latter, playing ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, faced some short balls from Josh Tongue before deciding to take the bait and pulling him over fine leg.
Gill was stuck on 199 for a while, but reached his double hundred by pulling Tongue for a single towards fine leg.
Gill's celebrations showed how much the effort meant to him, receiving applause from the opposition and England fans.
Against the run of play, Root provided relief for England by breaking through Sundar's defence, who played the wrong line.
In the morning session, England's pacers struggled to extract much from the pitch as Gill and Ravindra Jadeja (89 off 137) took advantage of ideal batting conditions, forming a 203-run partnership off 279 deliveries.
India added 109 runs in 25 overs after resuming the day at 310/5. England's short-ball strategy against Gill and Jadeja was ineffective during the morning session.
Tongue bagged a breakthrough late in the session with a short ball that Jadeja couldn't control, resulting in a catch by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
Under bright sunshine at Edgbaston, Jadeja resumed his knock with a crisp backfoot punch through the cover and a cut off Stokes.
Gill got his first four of the day in the third man region before cover driving Chris Woakes. He surprised everyone by playing a reverse sweep off spinner Bashir.
Later in the session, Gill swept Bashir for a six behind square as well. Jadeja joined the act, stepping out to smash Bashir for a maximum over mid-on.
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Stokes set an interesting field when Sundar joined Gill in the middle, employing a leg slip and two close-in fielders on the leg-side.
