Rohan Chowdhury, Birmingham
Team India is set to begin their second Test against England at Edgbaston on Wednesday, July 2. As anticipation builds, we at RevSportz continue to observe and report from the ground, bringing stories with an objective view. Our earlier report on Shubman Gill’s net session from Tuesday had sparked differing views — some critical, others curious — but the goal was simple: Report what unfolded at the nets, without bias or embellishment.
Gill, who spent extended time at the crease in Leeds, brought the same energy and focus to Edgbaston. On matchday minus one, at the optional practice, when most of the players avoided the session, the Indian skipper batted long; a session structured and deliberate from start to finish.
He began with low throwdowns from Nuwan off a half-pitch, then moved to 18-yard throwdowns — mostly short balls — before the full net session began. From then on, till the end of training, Gill stayed at the crease, facing a wide range of bowlers and constantly adjusting to the conditions.
In the previous report, we had noted as to how Gill was tested by deliveries in the corridor of uncertainty outside the off stump. On Wednesday, he appeared determined to address that very flaw. While he initially played and missed a few in that channel, he gradually took control of the situation as the session progressed. With growing confidence, he began shouldering arms to balls outside the fourth stump and displayed sound judgment in leaving deliveries on length—playing each ball on its merit with calculated discipline.
Also Read: Shubman Gill – the time is now
It was during this session that Birmingham League seamer Adnaan Riaz, who plays for Dorridge Cricket Club, got the opportunity to bowl to the Indian skipper. “I was doing some net bowling today with the India and England teams,” he said. “Got to bowl to some good players, and bowled to Shubman Gill for a while — that was a great experience.”
Adnaan felt it was a proper contest, even if the balance tilted towards Gill eventually. “I felt like we had a good battle. Had a few plays and misses off him, a couple of LBW shouts too, but at the same time, he punished all my bad balls,” he said.
He stuck to a consistent plan — classic lines and lengths, around off-stump, mostly swinging the ball away, with the occasional one brought back in. “Obviously, every bowler wants to be in and around off-stump — Top of off. That good length area, to let the ball do a bit off the surface and in the air,” he said. “So I mostly tried to bowl away-swing, challenge the outside edge, then the odd delivery to bring back in. The ball reversed in the end so I tried to use that to my advantage and bring it back in.”
As the session progressed, Adnaan noticed that Gill was beginning to read his rhythm and movement. “I think as the session went on, he got used to my action and where I was bowling. So he adjusted — he knew where I was going to bowl,” Adnaan said. “That made me have to change my plan. I tried to bring my length back a bit and bowl a little bit straighter, tried to bring the ball back into the stumps.”
According to him, the plan was fully his own — no preset instructions from the Indian camp. “They didn’t really tell us what to bowl,” he explained. “I was just trying to bowl my best ball — what I thought was my best ball, and how I thought I could have the best chance of getting him out.”
He confirmed that some of his deliveries did draw mistakes. “Yeah, he played and missed a few,” Adnaan said. “A few caught the outside half of the bat. A few shots to point. A few plays and misses. And I tried to attack the stumps as well to bring the LBW and bowled into play.”
“Yes, I got a few LBW shouts but (for the rest of) the game he was too good for me”, said the Dorridge seamer.
Gill, though, remained unfased by those early moments. He quickly adjusted his trigger movements and began to leave more confidently in that fourth stump line. His footwork grew more assured, and as the session wore on, his signature drives began to flow. It was the kind of discipline and resilience one expects from a batter looking to fine-tune his game in foreign conditions.
For Adnaan, who described the experience as “a dream”, it was a massive learning curve. “Every opportunity I get to bowl to some international players, I take it. It’s always a great experience — especially bowling to some of the best players in the world like Gill,” he said.
When asked who in the England setup he thinks he bowls most like, Adnaan gave a thoughtful answer. “Wow, that’s a tough question,” he said. “I’d like to think maybe Gus Atkinson. I don’t know — I’m quite a lot shorter than him, definitely don’t bowl as quick, but I think the way I try to bowl is maybe similar.”
He hasn’t played at Edgbaston yet but hopes to one day. “It’s a dream of mine,” he said. “That would be an amazing experience.”
For Gill, this wasn’t just another net session. It was a statement of intent. That despite all the noise, he’s not looking for shortcuts. He’s doing the work, trusting the process, and spending the kind of time in the nets that turns uncertainty into confidence. The areas that troubled him — particularly the off-stump line — were addressed here. The short ball looked less of a threat. And the drives — especially through the offside — were as crisp as ever.
India may not yet have won the first match, but their captain is winning the smaller battles as he prepares for the showdown to begin in Edgbaston.
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