Subhayan Chakraborty in Leeds
On Day 1 at lunch in Headingley, India had suddenly dipped into trouble, having lost KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan in the last two overs before the break. Despite having dominated the opening session, they were 92/2. The fans with trumpets at the Western Terrace were getting louder, the home supporters lined up to grab their drinks on a happier note, with England sensing a strong comeback.
Post the break, walked in India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill. With the pressure of replacing Rohit Sharma as the leader of the group and Virat Kohli at No. 4, the batter with an average of 25.70 in 21 innings in SENA countries had to do the job. There was no room for error, as it would send India into a dangerous territory against the home side, who were smelling blood.
The India captain looked flawless from the word go and started his innings like it was a home ODI game. Yes, the shining sun and a weak English bowling unit helped, but Gill was impeccable with his technique and especially his defence, which has been questioned by critics in the longest format of the game.
As Gill started to go about his business, reaching the 40-run mark at a strike rate of 100, the trumpets went silent but the crowd started to acknowledge how special this player is. Soon, the sound of ‘desi dhol’ started booming as Gill kept pushing England on to the backfoot. The fans stood up, clapped and enjoyed every boundary. Like a leader should, Gill was constantly communicating with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who also notched up a cracking century, as the duo stitched a 129-run stand.
While Jaiswal perished soon after completing his ton, Gill started another partnership with the audacious Rishabh Pant. There was solidity and counterattack on display, which could be the way forward for this new-look Indian Test team.
Ben Stokes tried different field settings, different bowlers and himself bowled a tight spell but Gill remained unfazed. Some of the drives, cuts, short-arm jabs left the English bowlers frustrated as he brought up his first Test ton outside Asia. Gill’s defence was watertight as he left 13.4 per cent of the deliveries, at the time of reaching his century, and finished Day 1 on 127 not out.
As he crossed the 100-run mark, dispatching Josh Tongue through the cover-point region with a smooth drive, the celebrations were kept at minimum. Gill removed his helmet, waved his bat to the crowd, yelled ‘come on’ and hugged his partner Pant.
With this century, his sixth in Test cricket, Gill joined the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Vijay Hazare and Virat Kohli to crack a Test ton on captaincy debut. He would know, the job has just started and his appetite to score more and lead from the front should grow as the series progresses.