Indian captain Shubman Gill broke quite a number of records during his second Test as the Indian captain in the Edgbaston Test against England. With India winning the Test by 336 runs, Gill became the only Asian captain to win a Test match at Edgbaston apart from also having the second best aggregate in a Test with 430 runs in the Test match. Former Australia skipper Michael Clarke sees this as the ‘best way to earn respect as a captain’.
“I know the wickets have been good for batting, a little bit slow in regards to pace but he’s looked comfortable in every position, Front foot, back foot, defense, attack, he dominates spin always. So, I have been like everyone, super impressed by the way he has walked out and batted in England conditions. I think as a captain. That’s probably the most important thing you can do. If you are a bowler, take wickets. If you are a batsman, score runs. That’s the best way to earn respect,” Clarke said while speaking on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.
Gill, who had started the series with a hundred in the first Test at Headingley, toyed with the England bowling attack in both the innings at Edgbaston. His first innings score of 269 runs was the highest score by an Indian batsman in England and the second innings’ century meant that Gill became only the second batsman to score two 150-plus scores in a Test match after Allan Border, who had achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1980. Clarke also suggested how bowlers can utilise short ball ploy against Gill. “I have been really impressed with his defense. I think that’s the one area it looks like he has worked extremely hard on. The other thing you can see is he is watching the ball so closely. I thought with someone like Shubman in Test cricket, you could really utilize the short ball. Just to get him pushed back off the crease. What I mean is that a good fast bouncer or a couple of bouncers even with some catches on whether he takes on the pull shot or a bat pad. And then I thought the ball you would get him out on though would be that front foot length because he is sitting back waiting for the short ball,” shared Clarke.
While Indian pacers picked up a total of 17 wickets in the match with Akash Deep finishing with ten wickets in the match including six wickets in the second innings, spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar too came into play on the last day. Sundar removed England captain Ben Stokes just minutes before lunch on the final day and Clarke termed Gill’s handling of his bowlers as ‘tactically brillaint’. “Tactically, I think he was brilliant in the second test match. Particularly again you have got 600 runs on the board. So that obviously helps. But I think in the second innings at Edgbaston, the way he brought spinners into the attack. Even Jadeja early on in the test match Washington Sundar gets that big wicket of Ben Stokes just before lunch. I think he used his spinners well. I think he attacked in the right areas. I think he gave the bowlers protection where they needed it to allow them to bowl the ball for that wicket taking ball. A lot of people could have a third slip before lunch. But I think he felt with his bowlers, if I give them a cover, in the bowlers’ mind they now know they can pitch the ball up and look to get the batsman’s drive and that gave the bowler confidence. I think he read his bowlers really well,” Clarke added.
With Jasprit Bumrah returning for the third Test, Clarke also shared his views on how he still sees leg-spinner Kuldeep Yadav making his spot in the team. “Now looking at the spin, I know Jadeja and Washington Sundar did a great job with the bat particularly. Yes, they picked up a wicket each in the second innings, but I am still asking the question. Are they a better team in regards to taking 20 wickets with Kuldeep Yadav in it? And again, that’s just a personal opinion of mine. I just think Kuldeep is ready to be playing in that Test team. I think he has that X factor. And I thought he might have got an opportunity in this second Test match. At the end of the day, India is winning. So whatever 11 they went with, it’s worked and it’s taken them a lot of courage,” said the former Australian captain.
