Indian batter Shubman Gill who consistently received criticism over his form in the long format made an impressive comeback by scoring his 3rd Test century in the ongoing 2nd Test vs England at Vizag.
Shubman Gill Scores his 3rd Test Century
Shubaman Gill who made his Test debut in 2020, so far played 22 Tests and managed to score 1197 runs at an average of 32.35. Though Gill managed to make some impressive knocks in red-ball cricket, his recent slump in his form created controversy over his continuous backing from the team management.
The same continued in the England Test series. Gill was named in the India squad for the England Tour of India 2024 for the 5-match Test series. In the 1st Test at Hyderabad, India lost the game by 28 runs where Gill managed to score just 23 and 0 runs in the 1st and 2nd inning of the match respectively.
With much expectations around the team India in the 2nd Test game, the hosts choose to bat first after winning the toss.
As of the 1st Test, Gill failed to score the needed runs in the 1st inning of the 2nd test. Gill managed to score 34 runs and got dismissed in the 29th over bowled by James Anderson. With Jaiswal’s double ton, India scored 396 runs in the 1st inning and bundled up the visitors for 253 runs in their first inning.
In India’s second inning, after the opening batters failed to lay a strong foundation, Gill scored an impressive TON and shut the controversies that floated around him. Gill got dismissed for 104 runs while attempting a reverse sweep shot in the 56th over bowled by Shoaib Bashir.
A timely ton 💯 from Superman Gill#TeamIndia on the ascendancy in the 2nd #INDvENG Test 👏#BazBowled #IDFCFirstBankTestsSeries #JioCinemaSports #ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/WTsm4QiNXe
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 4, 2024
India vs England 2nd Test Overview
Though Indian skipper Rohit Sharma failed to lay a strong foundation, his opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal led India to a much more comfortable side with his maiden double century. None of the players other than Jaiswal crossed the 40-run mark in the 1st inning.
India managed to score 396 runs in 1st inning after losing all their 10 wickets. England openers too posed a great threat with their opening partnership. England lost their first wicket for 59 runs after Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Ben Duckett for 21 runs.
Though Kuldeep broke the opening partnership, England’s middle order is undoubtedly a great threat for India. But Rohit made a clever move by bringing Jasprit Bumrah into the action right after Joe Root stepped in.
As expected Bumrah dismissed Joe Root for just 5 runs by teasing him with back-to-back swingers in the 26th over. Apart from Root’s dismissal, Bumrah dismissed Ollie Pope who remained as the hero of England’s 1st test victory.
Pope scored 196 runs in the 1st Test and laid a strong foundation for England’s victory. Pope batted 55 deliveries in the 2nd test without much trouble but the same batter went clue less against Bumrah’s yorker in the 28th over.
Bumrah bowled an inswinging yorker and rattled out the middle and leg stumps to dismiss Pope.
Following Pope’s dismissal, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes started to build a partnership and showed promise to add a descent sum of runs in England’s scoreboard. But Bumrah once again proved his worth by dismissing the dangerous duo.
In the 36th over of the inning, Bumrah bowled a fuller-length delivery outside the off-stump. Bairstow attempted to play a drive shot but the ball edged and carried to Gill at first slip.
Though England loses wickets at one end, their skipper Ben Stokes started to switch the gear by hitting some aggressive shorts. Bumrah once again scattered the hopes of England by dismissing Stokes for 47 runs.
Bumrah bagged his fifth wicket of the inning by dismissing Tom Hartley for 21 runs. The wicket also marks his 150 Test wicket. With the dismissal, Bumrah set a record by becoming the player with the fewest balls taken to 150 test wickets by an Indian player.
Apart from bagging the five-wicket haul, Bumrah also bagged another wicket and ended up the inning with 6 wickets under his belt. Bumrah dismissed Anderson for 6 runs while England managed to score 253 runs in the first inning.
In India’s second inning, opening batters Jaiswal and Rohit fell cheaply for 17 and 13 while Iyer and Rajat Patidar went for 29 and 9 runs respectively. As of now India scored 211 runs for 5 wickets loss and leads the game by 354 runs where Axar Patel and KS Bharat stand at the crease with 38 and 0 runs respectively.
