NEW DELHI: India captain Shubman Gill struck a sensational maiden Test double-century, and stand-in pacer Akash Deep followed it up with a fiery spell to leave England reeling at 13/2, courtesy of two wickets in two balls, on Day 2 of the second Test at Edgbaston on Thursday. Gill’s magnificent 269 formed the backbone of India’s imposing first-innings total of 587. In reply, England finished the day at 77/3, trailing by a massive 510 runs.The 25-year-old Gill, leading the side in only his second Test as captain, shattered the record for the highest score by an Indian batter in a Test match in England — surpassing Sunil Gavaskar’s iconic 221 at The Oval in 1979.Gill found solid support from all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar, forging crucial partnerships of 203 and 144 runs for the sixth and seventh wickets, respectively.Speaking after the day’s play, Jadeja lauded Gill’s exceptional knock and revealed how the two discussed building a long stand in the middle.“You didn’t see how much Shubman Gill has grown? (Laughs),” Jadeja told reporters.“Shubman scored 269 runs. He was unlucky because aaj lag nahi raha tha ki wo out hoga [it never looked like he was going to get out today]. We were actually talking about building a long partnership,” he added.Jadeja also spoke about Kuldeep Yadav, who was left out of the playing XI at Edgbaston as the team opted for additional batting depth following the loss in the opening Test at Headingley.
“Whenever Kuldeep Yadav gets an opportunity, he’ll do well — he’s a wicket-taker. I spend time with him, but whenever we go out, we never discuss cricket. A player should always focus on controlling the controllables,” Jadeja said.When asked about England assistant coach Jeetan Patel’s comments that the hosts still had a chance to win the second Test, Jadeja offered a cheeky response:“Log press conference mein kuch bhi bol dete hain [People can say anything in a press conference],” he quipped.
