CHENNAI: As Shubman Gill awkwardly swatted Josh Tongue's first ball of the 122nd over down the fine-leg, he knew he had done it. The India captain leaped and punched the air in ecstacy, turned around to double check once again where the ball was, before jumping again and letting out a roar. He had hit his first Test double century.
Unlike the hundred celebration on Wednesday, Gill did not show any sort of anger or pent up emotions. He greeted the moment with a wide smile and his trademark bow to acknowledge the applause from a packed Edgbaston crowd.
Much like the thousands at the venue, Gill, too, perhaps knew that the double century was almost inevitable. It looked so on Day Two, especially with Gill and Ravindra Jadeja (89) ensuring that it was not going to be a repeat of the first innings at Headingley. But in sport, knowing it, and doing it are two different things. Since the time he broke into the scene four years ago, entire cricketing world knew that Gill is a generational talent and is made for bigger things.
However, six months ago, after a poor Australia tour, his place was in question. This was not without merit as his away numbers were below par at best. And more than anything else, Gill was yet to stamp his authority in Test cricket. As much as he seemed as an obvious choice to lead Indian cricket forward, Gill had not yet reached where Virat Kohli had when he was handed the keys to the kingdom in 2015.
So when Gill walked out to bat at No 4 for the first time in Leeds — a position previously held and dominated by Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar — the burden and expectations would have been significant. He did come out all guns blazing, smashing a century, but as the Test match progressed, the only thing that mattered was the result. Gill had gotten out to a soft dismissal after reaching triple figure, India lost their last seven wickets for 41 runs and then, eventually the match by five wickets.
Edgbaston, however, was different right from the moment Gill walked out to bat. The pitch might not have had any demons, but the 25-year-old batted like a possessed teenager who was known to spend hours tiring out bowlers in age-group cricket. Such was his control with the bat that according to Cricviz, Gill played just 4 per cent false shots on Day One which is the lowest for a Test hundred in England since records began in 2006.
When he came back on Thursday, Gill just picked up from where he left. He continued to pile on, while not showing any rush to get out. Considering the natural stroke-player he is, Gill batted time and played the balls on merit, the runs kept coming. In the process, he ended up doing what great batters often do — make hay when the sun shines. For the elite list of batters, a century is never enough.
When they know runs are there for the taking, they don't leave anything behind. Gill had done that all through his growing up years. At 14, Gill (351) had put on a world record opening stand of 587 along with Nirmal Singh (267) during an inter-district game against Amritsar. He had not even gone past 130 in Test cricket before arriving in England. Prior to this tour, he had faced more than 200 balls in an innings only once. That, however, is history. Gill's appetite for batting and runs is what the captain in him needed the most.
And it came to the fore in Edgbaston. Gill batted for 387 balls, spent almost eight and a half hours in the middle, breaking one record after another on his way to the highest score by an Indian Test captain — 269. Such was the quality and the impact of the innings that his average went from 36.57 to 40.64 in a span of two days.
By the time he walked back to the dressing room, the captain had put India in a position where it is incredibly hard for them to lose. In doing so, he had lived up to what former India head coach Rahul Dravid told him about 15 months ago just before a fourth innings chase against the same opponent in Ranchi. "If not you, who, if not now, when?," Dravid had told Gill who went onto score a match-winning fifty, taking India across the line.
On Thursday, captain Shubman Gill announced to the world that this is his team, and that his time is here.
