London: Low scores in both innings of the Lord’s Test and 12 in the first essay of the fourth Test had left many wondering whether Shubman Gill had lost his golden touch. The Indian captain had, after all, amassed 585 runs – including knocks of 147, 269 and 161 – in the first two Tests.
But, with his team pushed to the wall after England garnered a first-innings lead of 311 runs at Manchester’s Old Trafford, Gill put his hand up and answered critics with yet another statement century on the final day.
Gill bats at No. 4, but had to walk out to the crease in the very first over of India’s second innings as Chris Woakes sent back Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharshan off successive deliveries.
From 0/2, Gill joined forces with KL Rahul to steady the ship, batting two full sessions on Day 4 to add 174 unbeaten runs.
The duo looked to weather the storm on an overcast Sunday as the England bowlers, led by their lion-hearted captain Ben Stokes, went for the kill in search of a series-sealing victory.
Despite being bothered by a muscle spasm, Stokes bowled seven overs on the trot and dismissed Rahul leg-before wicket with one that kept low.
Rahul fell for a fighting 90, but Gill was not to be denied and brought up his fourth century of the series with a push to the covers – the gutsiest of his 9 Test hundreds so far.
Unfortunately for India, Gill departed shortly before lunch as India were reduced to 223/4 – still needing 88 runs to make England bat again.
The Indian captain, however, had sent many more milestones during his tenure at the crease.
* Gill is in elite company, joining the likes of Don Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli among others, to have scored four centuries in a single Test series.
* Only West Indian great Clyde Walcott has scored 5 centuries in one series, and Gill has two innings to try and emulate or surpass that mark.
* Gill is only the third captain — after Bradman and Gavaskar — to score four hundreds in a Test series.
* Gill crossed the 700-run mark in the series, becoming the third Indian to do so in Test history. With a tally of 722 runs, Gill surpassed Yashasvi Jaiswal’s tally of 712 in last year’s home Test series vs England, and is only behind Gavaskar, who holds the Indian record with 774 runs (in 1974 vs West Indies).
* Gill became the first cricketer from Asia to tally 700-plus runs in a Test series played in England, surpassing Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf (631 runs in 2006 series)
