After a lull in the Lord's Test, Shubman Gill is back to setting new records. The Indian captain's defiant fifty and his century stand with KL Rahul ensured that India didn't roll over on the fourth day of the Manchester Test against England.
In the morning session on the final day, Shubman Gill zoomed past 700 runs for the series, getting himself into an elite club with Sunil Gavaskar as the only Indian captains to have achieved this feat in the longest format. If he bats long enough on the fifth day, Gill could also get past the veteran to top the list in terms of most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series.
Gill is also only the third Indian overall to go past 700 runs in a Test series with Yashasvi Jaiwal being the second to the list in the home series against England last year. Records were peeled off on the fourth day as well, as Gill went past Mohammad Yousuf's 19-year-old record for the most runs by an Asian batter in a Test series in England. Amongst the several landmarks that he has crossed in the series, this arguably will rank the highest in Gill's list.
Racking up runs in England is every Test batter's dream as it adds substantial fuel to their CVs. While the pitches in this series have largely been flat and the Dukes ball has gotten softer lot earlier than is usual, Gill's performances shouldn't be taken lightly. His knocks have mostly been the backbone of India's performances, most recent one being the ongoing vigil in the second innings at Old Trafford. At 0/2 on the fourth day, it seemed like England would prevent the game from reaching the final day. However, Gill's counterattack and the ideal support act from Rahul ensured two successive wicketless sessions for England.
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For a player in his maiden captaincy series, Gill's leadership has understandably been a mixed bag. Constant injuries to key bowlers and a batting unit in transition is never ideal for a captain in any series, let alone in the tough terrains of England. However, Gill hasn't let all the captaincy chatter affect his batting and his front foot defence is what has stood out the most. The 25-year-old has clearly worked on his technique, tightening his foot movements while defending the ball.
Earlier, Gill's feet would be stuck a bit, going neither forward nor back as he tried to handle the good length deliveries from seamers. This also made him a big LBW candidate when the pitches had something in them. While this mode of dismissal still remains his biggest nemesis, Gill has done a tremendous job in making his defence a lot more compact. He gets a proper stride forward in defence to the good length balls - his height also helps - and this means that when the bowler tries to go that bit fuller, he is ready with his drives. It's a ploy that has worked well and for a player who loves to play shots square of the wicket mostly, the evolution of Gill's front foot game against pace this series has been a delight to watch.
As the records keep coming, the key part for Gill is how he keeps evolving as a batter, because international cricket is a tough school to crack over a long period of time. For now, he has made a reasonable start to things and India will hope that he keeps going upwards.