On Day One of the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday, the visitors reached 310/5 in 85 overs at stumps, led by a resolute Shubman Gill, who produced a hard-fought seventh Test hundred, his second as captain of India.
England forced India to bat first under bright blue skies. The visitors were criticized for not including Kuldeep Yadav, another true wicket-taker, and for resting Jasprit Bumrah. They also packed their lineup with three all-rounders. However, Gill demonstrated a great deal of patience and responsibility after scoring 147 at Headingley. He batted as though he was determined to grind it out and go undefeated on 114 off 216 deliveries with 12 boundaries.
Gill became only the second Indian captain after Mohammad Azharuddin to record hundreds in back-to-back Test matches in England with his undefeated performance, which was his fourth Test century against England.
Additionally, he is the third Indian skipper to reach hundreds in back-to-back Test matches against England, following Vijay Hazare (Delhi and Brabourne in 1951/52) and Azharuddin (Lord’s and Old Trafford in 1990). Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, who finished the day at 41 not out, shared an uninterrupted 99-run partnership for the sixth wicket after Yashasvi Jaiswal struck an impressive 87. This enabled India bounce back nicely from 211/5.
With two wickets, local boy Chris Woakes was England’s most impressive bowler. If he had been on the right side of DRS, he could have easily taken a few more. Ben Stokes, Shoaib Bashir, and Brydon Carse each claimed one.
KL Rahul sliced on to Woakes’ stumps for just two in the morning, rewarding him for his persistence with the new ball. If the umpire hadn’t made the call, he could have had both Jaiswal and Karun Nair, who came in at No. 3 in lieu of an omitted B. Sai Sudharsan, lbw.
During his drives and when he flicked Ben Stokes across the space between mid-on and mid-wicket, Nair showed impeccable timing. Josh Tongue’s errant behaviour gave Jaiswal the freedom to drive and cut with style, which led to three boundaries in the 16th over and another in the 22nd, with a hook and slash bringing Jaiswal to his 11th Test fifty.
Jaiswal passed with flying colors after enduring the trials of a difficult test, which included being 16 off 34 balls at one point, although not moving much. At lunchtime, an 80-run stand for the second wicket came to an end when Carse came around to collect the shoulder edge of Nair’s bat. The outside edge was subsequently caught by second slip.
After lunch, India scored 84 runs in 28 overs, putting traditional attritional cricket front and center. Gill held firm even though Jaiswal missed his sixth Test century by 13 runs.
Initially, Gill and Jaiswal took advantage of whatever chance they had to acquire singles. After being put to the test when playing around his front pad, Gill twice got his boundaries off edges via gullies, while Jaiswal scored a boundary by cutting over the slips.
In an attempt to persuade Gill to play across his front pad, Woakes keeps testing him at the middle stump line. However, with his strong and tight forward defense, the Indian captain, who was batting outside the crease, handled it superbly. Jaiswal and Gill each received a four as they reached the partnership’s fifty with Tongue and Bashir entering.
Jaiswal attempted to cut one away outside off and gave keeper Jamie Smith a narrow advantage, but Stokes once again pulled a rabbit out of a hat to give England a crucial breakthrough. The England captain was overjoyed as he celebrated.
Rishabh Pant took his time and appreciated some superb bowling coming his way before dancing down the pitch to whack a half-volley from Bashir over long-on for six, while Gill remained content with getting singles on both sides of the wicket. Before the tea break came, the pair hit singles in the final two overs.
Before the ball was changed because it got trapped in the gauge, the last session started calmly. After that, Gill made good use of his feet to hit Bashir and Woakes with fours each, the latter of which gave him his fifty in 125 balls.
The wicketkeeper-batter fell into the trap by holing out to long-on for 25 as Bashir tricked Pant, who had previously lapped him for four, into playing a huge shot with a slower, flighted delivery in the 61st over. Nitish Kumar Reddy sent Chris Woakes an outside off-stump delivery, but the ball jagged back in to topple the off-stump, giving England a two-run victory.
Brydon Carse was pulled back by England after two rapid breakthroughs, but a strong Gill pushed him cleanly past extra cover and point for a pair of fours. Stokes attempted to disturb the pair with a flurry of bouncers, but Gill and Jadeja each took a boundary. The pair brought up a half-century of their partnership for the sixth wicket, thus it didn’t work out.
Gill sliced off the pacer for four before sweeping on consecutive deliveries off Joe Root to reach his seventh Test hundred off 199 deliveries, accompanied by his signature yell and soft bow, while Jadeja hit boundaries off Bashir and Tongue. Gill and Jadeja each hit a boundary after the second new ball was taken, capping off a strong day of Test cricket.
Short scores:
In 85 overs, India defeated England with 310/5 (Shubman Gill 114 not out, Yashasvi Jaiswal 87; Chris Woakes 2-59, Brydon Carse 1-49).
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