India captain Shubman Gill put on a stoic presence at the crease on day 1 of the second Test against England, hours after social media and experts had slammed the team management for going in with a defensive XI, leaving out Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav at Edgbaston.
Put in to bat on another flat deck, India were troubled by wickets at regular intervals as KL Rahul (2), Karun Nair (31), Rishabh Pant (25), and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1) failed to cash in on the conditions. After Yashasvi Jaiswal stormed his way to 87 before missing out on a cut shot, it was captain Gill who absorbed all the heat and pressure to waltz his way to his second century in successive matches as India’s Test captain.
The 25-year-old Gill is only the fourth Indian captain to record centuries in consecutive matches from his captaincy debut after Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, and Virat Kohli. Gill is also only the fifth Indian to score a century at Edgbaston after Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli, Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri observed the technical adjustments Gill has incorporated into his game for the series, after having started his captaincy stint with a magnificent 147 in the first innings at Headingley last week.
From the podium to the pitch, ft. Shubman Gill#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @ShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/Ho8daZkLoH
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 3, 2025
“Gill’s performance was superb. It was disciplined, he looked solid, looked fantastic. He has worked hard on his defence. When he last came to England, he played with hard hands, pushed at the ball, but now, the top hand is in control. He allows the ball to come to him, trusts in his defence and has all the shots in the book when he goes on the attack,” said Shastri on Sky Sports.
Gill remained not out on 114 of 216 balls with 12 centuries. According to Cricviz, no century in Tests in England had a better control rate while reaching the three-figure mark since records began in 2006.
Gill’s unbroken 99-run partnership with Jadeja (47 not out) meant that India had moved up to 310 for five at the close of play. Former England captain Michael Vaughan also said that despite the defensive make-up of India’s XI, putting on a score north of 450 in the first essay is the visitors’ best chance of fighting for a win.
“Shubman Gill said he’d have bowled but I think this is the way India can beat England – if they score 450. India should’ve won the first Test match if they held their chances. India are doing what they need to do to win this game. England bowled well enough to get two or three more wickets but the rub of the green with the umpire’s calls has gone the way of India. This is a flat wicket and there’s not a lot there for the seamers or spinners and England should score a lot on here if it doesn’t crack,” said Vaughan.
