Gill century headlines India’s strong start at Edgbaston

Thursday, 3 July 2025 02:46 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Shubman Gill continued his red-hot form with the willow at Edgbaston as he dominated the England bowlers on Day 1 with India looking to draw level in their second clash of the five-Test series as part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.

With Ben Stokes opting to field once again at the toss, a decent start with the ball was cancelled out after the visitors ended the opening day on a strong note on 310/5.

A slow start from India didn’t go their way after KL Rahul played one onto the stumps off Chris Woakes in the ninth over of the innings.

Karun Nair, who played at five in the series opener in Leeds, took over as No. 3, and joined Yashasvi Jaiswal in the middle. The pair forged together a strong stand and piled up the runs as they played the home side’s bowlers to all parts of the ground. Just when the 80-run stand looked set to go big, Brydon Carse’s superb delivery got the better of Nair, with the right-hand batter nicking one to Harry Brook at second slip.

Skipper Shubman Gill walked in next and combined with Jaiswal for a splendid partnership that looked set to get India back into the game and on course for a big total in Birmingham. The duo added 66 runs to the total after taking over from 95/2, before England skipper Ben Stokes did the trick to get rid of Jaiswal on 87, after the left-hander sliced one behind to Jamie Smith, who grabbed it comfortably.

Following his twin tons in Leeds in the first Test, Rishabh Pant aimed to continue his run-scoring form but was cut short when he tried to go aerial against Shoaib Bashir, only for the ball to end up in Zak Crawley’s hands at long-on.

With Nitish Kumar Reddy walking back for just a single run, ICC No. 1-ranked Test all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja went on to join the Indian skipper at the crease, with the pair holding the fort for India with an unbeaten 99-run stand at the end of day’s play.

Gill reached his second hundred on the trot in the process – his seventh overall in Tests and fourth against England and just the second Indian Captain after Mohammad Azharuddin to notch up continuous Test hundreds in England, while Jadeja remained unbeaten on 41.