Ravi Shastri, the former India head coach, praised Shubman Gill for his seventh Test century against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday. Shastri noted that Gill clearly worked on his defense and looked impressive while guiding the visitors past 300.
On the first day, Gill scored his second Test century in as many games since starting his Test captaincy with a solid 147 at Headingley the week before. India reached 310/5 in 85 overs at the close of play. Coming in at number four, Gill played with great responsibility and patience, remaining unbeaten on 114 off 216 balls, with 12 fours.
Shastri said on Sky Sports’ broadcast, I think India will be quite happy with their position at the end of day one. The 99-run partnership between Gill and Jadeja helped them recover from a potentially difficult spot. They know they need to score at least another 150 runs from here. If England had taken more wickets after India were 211-5, the situation could have been very different. But Shubman Gill’s innings was excellent. It was a disciplined effort, and he looked confident and steady.
Shubman Gill has improved his defense. When he last played in England, he played with hard hands, pushing at the ball, similar to Virat Kohli. Now, he controls the top hand better, allows the ball to come to him, trusts his defense, and has all the shots when he attacks.
Shastri added that the partnership between Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, who is unbeaten on 41, needs to perform well in the first hour of play on the next day. The first hour is crucial for India. They can afford to lose one wicket to stay on track. England knows that if they take a couple of early wickets in the first hour, they have a good chance of restricting India.
Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, shared a similar view. I think the focus should be on India tomorrow, rather than what England can do. India should not have lost 7-41 in the first innings on the second day and 6-31 in the second innings at Headingley. As Ravi mentioned, they should aim to get the total up to 450 or more tomorrow. They’ve essentially changed their lower order here. My attention is on India tomorrow. Can they avoid repeating their mistakes from last time?
Hussain also felt that the England bowlers could not be faulted for their efforts on a flat pitch. England will feel similar to how they felt after day one at Headingley, but this is probably a bigger missed opportunity. Before the 99-run partnership between Gill and Jadeja, they were in a better position than they ever were at Headingley.
Stokes has the belief and support of his bowling attack, partly because of his leadership and partly because of the results. It was a tough day with back-to-back bowling days, and Carse limped off, but you can’t fault the bowlers’ effort.