Former India head coach Ravi Shastri was full of praise for Shubman Gill, who scored his seventh Test hundred on Wednesday against England at Edgbaston. Shastri observed that Gill’s defensive technique had improved tremendously, helping India post a strong total on day one.
Gill, coming in at number four, played a patient and determined knock, remaining unbeaten on 114 runs off 216 balls, including 12 boundaries. His innings helped India reach 310/5 in 85 overs by stumps. This was his second consecutive Test century since becoming captain, after his impressive 147 at Headingley last week.
“𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍’𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒃. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒅,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒌𝒚 𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔.
Gill’s Defence Compared To Virat Kohli’s Technique
Reflecting on Gill’s progress, Shastri said the young batter had worked hard to correct flaws from his previous England tour.
“𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍,” 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
He added that Gill was allowing the ball to come to him, trusting his defence, and had every shot when going on the attack.
Shastri also stressed the importance of the 99-run partnership between Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, who was not out on 41 at the close of play. He urged India to consolidate further in the morning session on day two.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
England’s Missed Opportunity And Bowling Effort
Former England captain Nasser Hussain echoed Shastri’s thoughts, emphasizing that India should aim to post a huge total to avoid a repeat of collapses seen at Headingley.
“They should be getting this total up to 450 and beyond tomorrow. My eyes are on India. Can they make up for their mistakes last time?” Hussain remarked.
Hussain also noted that England’s bowlers couldn’t be blamed, given the flat nature of the pitch, though they did let India off the hook before the Gill-Jadeja stand turned the tide.
He also acknowledged the resilience and unity of England’s bowling attack under Ben Stokes, despite a demanding workload and injury setbacks.
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