By Amarinder Sangha, Newcastle upon Tyne
A day after the magnificent Indian win at Edgbaston, the enormity of the achievement is yet to sink in. It is a feeling of elation, of pride, in India’s cricket team and more so it’s young captain Shubman Gill. There is a vested interest, of course, for the young man leading India is from my neck of the woods in Punjab, an area known more for producing hockey stars than cricketers.
This is not only his first test win, but also India’s first win in the post Kohli, Rohit, and Ashwin era. The way the win has been achieved is nothing short of amazing, and it could well signal the beginning of the Gill era. He has led from the front with a Bradmanesque 586 runs in just two tests so far, and apart from the last day of the Leeds test, the team has dominated the series so far.
By all accounts, India have pummelled England at Edgbaston in the second test of the ongoing Anderson – Tendulkar series. This wasn’t supposed to happen, or at least that is what most cricket pundits and fans thought. India had never won at this venue in Birmingham in eight attempts, while losing seven times. With pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah rested for this game, few gave India much of a chance of winning. Tony Young, a well-known sports pundit in the Northeast of England had more faith than that. He backed India more than this writer did. He warned of chinks in England’s armour, which could undo them, and these were exposed as the game progressed.
The Indian selection was negative, some experts felt, and the pervading sense before the game was that India was being defensive and hoping to get away with a draw. How could they leave out the wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, a genuine match-winner, in the absence of the world’s best all-format bowler Bumrah? Perhaps the captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir had other ideas. They chose to go ahead with an extra-allrounder to strengthen their lower batting order, perhaps stung by the two batting collapses in the first test. It paid off in the end with Washington Sundar contributing with the bat and picking up the key wicket of Ben Stokes in the second innings.
The Indian batting came to the party, racking up a massive 587 runs in their first innings after being put into bat once again by Stokes. England were hoping to follow the same template as in the first test, where they chased down the 370 plus target in the 4th innings rather easily. They trusted the surface and their Bazball brand of cricket. At the end of the first day, India got to 310 for 5, and it seemed the honours were even. At this point, former England captain Michael Vaughan presciently stated that England’s Bazball approach could come a cropper in this game, and he was proved right in the end.
Shubman Gill, in only his second test as captain, scored what is called a ‘daddy’ double hundred. His imperious 269 run knock broke many records, but the way in which he did so stood out. He had a control percentage of more than 96%, the highest ever since this statistic was introduced. India dominated the game save for a hurricane 303-run stand between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith in England’s first innings. It was the only time India looked under pressure. Come the second new ball and they were all over England, dismissing them for 407, giving them a big lead of 180. Mohd Siraj found his rhythm and ended up with 6 for 70, with solid support from Akash Deep who took the other 4 wickets. India’s second innings came at an even faster pace, with Gill carrying on from where he left off in the first innings. His elegant yet aggressive 161 was the standout performance for the second time in the game. His match total of 430 runs is second only to Graham Gooch’s 456 for the most runs ever in a test.
It was a game in which he could do no wrong. As David Lloyd wrote in the Daily Mail, ‘It is a classic case of The King is Dead, Long Live the King’. It was a nod to Gill’s effortless easing into the coveted number four batting spot previously occupied by those two giants of Indian and world cricket, Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. With the weight of his runs behind him, Gill captained well too. Learning from his experience in the first test, he was astute in his decision making. He rang in the right changes and marshalled his bowlers perfectly. This time around, the bowling had a plan, unlike in Leeds where they had sprayed the ball all over and waited for things to happen..
India set a target of 608 for England in the fourth innings, and some questioned the quantum of runs and the timing of the declaration. From India’s point of view, it was an acknowledgement of England’s ability and approach in chasing targets, and a learning from the first test. India batted them out of the game, something they missed in the first test and that too twice. This took out of the equation any chance England had of winning. It was now India’s game to lose. England found themselves in unfamiliar territory, in the Stokes -McCullum era at least, of batting to save the match rather than go for a win. It was a bridge too far. Before stumps on the fourth day, the Indian pacers had prised out the top three England batters, the openers Crawley and Duckett and the redoubtable Joe Root. These were massive blows in the context of the game. If England had to save the game, they needed Root to bat long and hold one end up.
Although rain took out more than 10 overs on the morning of the 5th day, India’s bowling saw to it that they won with plenty to spare in runs and time. Akash Deep, bowled magnificently and ended up with 6 wickets in the second innings and 10 in the match, and Siraj with 7. It was a consummate performance by the pair, unlike any in Indian pace bowling history. Perhaps the absence of Bumrah spurred them to greater heights. As is his wont in a situation like this, Siraj stepped into his shoes and took on the mantle of the leader of the pack. There was near unanimity in the fact that the Indian pacers had got more out of the wicket than their English counterparts. At the post-match presentation Stokes referred to it as a sort of ‘subcontinental wicket’. That comment is sure to fan the social media discourse over the next few days.
India won by 336 runs in the end, a pummelling not merely in terms of runs but in the manner it was achieved. India buried the ghost of Edgbaston, just like they had done at the Gabba in 2021. Some of the ‘dramatis personae’ were the same. Pant had guided that chase in Brisbane, after Gill had laid the foundation. Here too, Gill, now the captain, and Pant his deputy, played the biggest roles in shepherding a team in transition towards a famous victory. Few had seen it coming. It sets up the series nicely, with the Lord’s test coming up later this week. A fresh Bumrah returns to lead the attack again, and with the in-form duo of Siraj and Akash Deep in tow, it looks a potent one. England have more questions than answers but trust them to come hard. The series so far has lived up to its billing, but will it go down to the wire? It remains to be seen but, in the meanwhile, let’s salute the young man who made this test match his very own. Vilified as arrogant in some quarters for using the moniker ‘Prince’ on his MRF bat, the young prince has indeed stepped into the King’s shoes in the test team and made the spot his own.
The King is Dead, Long Live The King…!
