Gill satisfied with outcome in first series as Test captain

Over the course of the gruelling five-Test series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, there were several moments when question marks were raised at new Test skipper Shubman Gill’s inexperience of leadership.

In the absence of old guards — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin, the 25-year-old Gill had only a couple of players like KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah to fall back upon, and talk strategies.

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The youngster finally managed to lead his young side to a stunning 2-2 scoreline, silencing critics that once doubted the relatively-inexperienced side’s chances against a well-oiled England unit. Gill led from the front with a stunning tally of 754 runs from 10 innings, inclusive of four hundreds, while Mohammed Siraj ended as the highest wicket-taker from either side with 23 scalps.

After their incredible six-run victory in the fifth Test at The Oval, Gill said their strategy of keeping England under pressure on day five’s play proved to be successful.

On day five, India picked the remaining four wickets for 28 runs to win the match and level the series.

“Every Test we came on day four and day five never knowing who was going to win. It just shows that both the teams came with their A game and I am very happy to get over the line in this one.” Gill said at the post-match presentation.

“There was a bit of pressure on us but I think the way we came through that spell was magnificent for us. Pressure makes you do things you don’t want to and we wanted them to feel it as they looked to chase all those runs,” he added.

India’s surreal win was led by Mohammed Siraj’s 5-104 and Prasidh Krishna’s 4-126. Heaping praises on his bowlers’, Gill said his job was made easier by the presence of the duo.

“When you have bowlers like Siraj and Prasidh, captaincy seems easy. They were making the ball talk. He (Siraj) is a captain’s dream, every ball, every spell he bowled he came all out and gave it everything for the team,” he said.

Gill was also adjudged India’s Player of the Series, adjudicated by England coach Brendon McCullum for being the series leading run-getter in what was also his first assignment as the side’s Test captain.

“2-2 is a fair reflection. It shows how passionate both teams were and how well they played. Very rewarding, my aim was to be the best batter in this series and getting there is very satisfying. It’s always a matter of sorting things out technically and mentally, they are correlated. Learnings from the last six weeks: We never give up,” he concluded.