India captain Shubman Gill praised his side’s resilient batting display on Day 5 of the fourth Test, saying the team had been under “tremendous pressure” over the past couple of days.
Gill commended the batting group, noting how well they handled the pressure when every delivery posed a challenge for the batters in the middle.
“Extremely pleased with the batting effort,” Gill said during the post-match presentation. “Over the past couple of days, we were put under tremendous pressure. It’s all about taking the wicket out of the equation. On a Day 5 wicket, something is happening – every ball is kind of an event. We wanted to take it ball by ball and take the game as deep as possible, which is what we spoke about.”
England captain Ben Stokes approached Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar with an offer to call off the match ahead of the final hour. However, with Jadeja on 89 and Sundar on 80, the Indian pair declined the offer and chose to bat on.
“We thought they (Jadeja and Sundar) batted brilliantly – they were in their 90s – and we felt they deserved a century,” Gill explained.
Gill, who bounced back from a first-innings failure to score his fourth century of the series in Manchester, became the first Asian batter to score over 700 runs in a single Test series in England.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter how many runs you’ve scored in the past. Every time you walk out wearing the whites of the country, there are some jitters. That shows how much I care about playing for the country and how much I love this game. Every time I bat, I want to give my best and enjoy my batting as much as I can.”
Gill added that the team would wait before deciding on the inclusion of India’s premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the final Test at The Oval. “We’ll have to wait and see (about Bumrah) for the Oval Test match.”
England lead the five-match series 2–1. For India, the final Test is a virtual decider, as they must win to level the series.
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