Manchester, July 27 (IANS) After India secured a hard-fought draw in the fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test against England at Old Trafford, skipper Shubman Gill termed his side’s response with the bat after losing two early wickets in the second innings as a ‘very brave effort’.
With India at 0/2 and 311 runs behind in the beginning of their second innings on day four, it seemed they would lose the match and the series. But a monumental, strong and resolute batting show – led by hundreds from Gill (103), Ravindra Jadeja (107 not out) and Washington Sundar (100 not out) – along with KL Rahul’s 90 meant the visitors’ conjured up a miraculous and memorable draw.
“I am extremely pleased with the batting, under pressure the last couple of days We were put under a lot of pressure but the way we responded, especially after losing two early wickets, was a very brave effort.”
“It was all about taking the wicket out of the equation. You just want to play ball by ball, as every ball is an event, take it ball by ball and take the game as deep as possible,” said Gill in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Asked on the scenes at the end, where Jadeja and Sundar refused to shake hands with Ben Stokes for a draw and later got their respective centuries, Gill said, “It was up to the boys in the middle, they batted brilliantly, in their 90s, and they deserved the centuries.”
“Every match going till the last session on the last day. So many learnings. Each Test match teaches you something different. It has taught us a lot as a group. Hopefully we can win the next match and draw the series.”
Gill’s resolute 103 in the second innings was also his ninth Test hundred and fourth of the ongoing series. He expressed pleasure over the visitors’ batting deep in the second innings, something which they couldn’t do in the first essay.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter how many runs you’ve scored in the past. Every time you walk wearing the whites of the country, there are some jitters. That tells how much I care playing for the country and how much I love this game. Everytime I bat, I want to play my best and I want to enjoy my batting as much as I can.”
“In the first innings, we did post a good total. But a lot of our batters did get set. Important on these wickets that if one or two batters if they go deep, they go big. You can really take the game away from the opposition.”
“Unfortunately for us in the first innings it didn’t happen. We were not able to convert those starts into big ones. But pleased with the way we were able to do that in the second innings,” he elaborated.
Quizzed on if Jasprit Bumrah will have time to recover for the next Test at The Oval, starting on Thursday, Gill said, “We’ll have to wait and see. As long as we’re winning the match (at the Oval), I don’t really care about the toss (result).”
–IANS
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