SHUBMAN GILL scored his second hundred in as many matches as India captain to help his side finish the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston on 310-5 against England on Wednesday.
Gill remained unbeaten on 114, while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made 87. India were briefly under pressure after losing two quick wickets to slip to 211-5, but Gill and Ravindra Jadeja, who was 41 not out, shared an unbroken stand of 99 runs.
In the first Test at Headingley, India had five individual hundreds, including Gill’s 147, but lost the match. Batting collapses of 7-41 and 6-31 had cost them before England successfully chased down 371 to win by five wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
Gill, 25, who took over the captaincy after Rohit Sharma's retirement, has scored back-to-back centuries since assuming the role.
'Amazing Gill', says Jaiswal
“I think he has been amazing the way he has been batting,” Jaiswal said after stumps. “It’s just incredible to see him bat and as a captain also, he has been amazing and I think he is very clear in his head what he needs to do with the team and we are very confident in what we are going to do.”
England captain Ben Stokes again chose to field after winning the toss, repeating the decision he made in Leeds. England had chased down 378 at Edgbaston against India three years ago, their highest fourth-innings total.
KL Rahul, who scored a hundred at Headingley, managed just two runs from 26 balls before dragging a Chris Woakes delivery onto his stumps. Woakes took 2-59 in 21 overs, while Brydon Carse returned 1-49 in 16 overs.
England kept things tight early on, restricting India to 37-1 in the first 13 overs, but Josh Tongue conceded 66 runs from 13 wicketless overs. England were also unlucky with a couple of lbw reviews, both going against them on umpire’s call. Karun Nair was reprieved on five before being dismissed for 31.
“A couple of decisions go our way early doors and then all of a sudden they’re 30-3 and we’re looking at a completely different day ahead,” Woakes told Sky Sports.
Jaiswal misses out on hundred, Gill completes his
Jaiswal reached his fifty off 59 balls, with 40 of those runs coming in boundaries. He looked set for another century following his 101 at Headingley but was caught behind after edging a wide delivery from Stokes, leaving India at 161-3.
Rishabh Pant, who scored twin hundreds in Leeds, took 23 balls to score his first boundary – a six off Shoaib Bashir. Bashir got his wicket soon after when Pant (25) holed out to long-on.
India then slipped to 211-5 when Nitesh Kumar Reddy was bowled playing no shot to a Woakes delivery that nipped back in. But Gill remained steady, reaching his century off 199 balls with 11 boundaries. He swept Joe Root for back-to-back fours before reaching the milestone.
India rest Bumrah for second Test
India made three changes to their playing XI, with Jasprit Bumrah rested as part of a pre-announced plan to manage his workload during the five-match series.
Bumrah is expected to play only three Tests as part of fitness management after his recent back injury.
Akash Deep replaced Bumrah in the playing XI. The third Test at Lord’s begins just four days after the scheduled end of the second Test.
(With inputs from agencies)
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