In a historic first, India have registered two century partnerships for the sixth and seventh wickets in SENA countries in the ongoing second Test against England at Edgbaston.This is just the second time that a visiting team has had two century stands for the sixth wicket or lower in a Test innings in England, after West Indies at Trent Bridge in 1957. It’s the second such instance for India in an away Test after Kingston in 1971.In both partnerships, captain Shubman Gill stood tall and was equally well supported by Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.On the opening day, when Ravindra Jadeja walked out to bat, India were in a spot of bother with the scorecard reading 211/5.Jadeja and Gill forged a 203-run stand for the sixth wicket.Jadeja was undone by a sharp bouncer bowled by Joshua Tongue. He missed a well-deserved century. If he had got those 11 runs, it would have been his second century at this venue.Next in, Washington Sundar stitched another valuable 144-run stand with captain Shubman Gill for the seventh wicket. Washington Sundar was cleaned up by Joe Root.India captain Shubman Gill scored a superb maiden Test double-century as he again led from the front against England in the second Test at Edgbaston on Thursday.Gill continued to take a toll on England’s attack as he once more batted in near-flawless fashion.He was especially severe on Shoaib Bashir, cover-driving the off-spinner for four and lofting him for six.
Gill also struck two fours in three balls off fast bowler Josh Tongue, an on-drive followed by a flick off the hip that saw Joe Root and Zak Crawley almost collide in a failed attempt to prevent the boundary.A hooked single off Tongue took Gill to 200 in 311 balls, including 21 fours and two sixes, with India then 472-6 as the elated skipper bowed to a capacity crowd in celebration.It was not long before the 25-year-old Gill, in just his second Test as captain, set a new record for the highest score by an India batsman in a Test in England, surpassing the great Sunil Gavaskar’s 221 at The Oval back in 1979.
