INDIA TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Shubman Gill raises his bat after reaching 150 © AFP
An excellent 168* from Shubman Gill, and his 203-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja (89), made England toil hard on the second morning of the second Test as India went to Lunch at 419 for 6 at Edgbaston. The Indian skipper continued to hold fort for the visitors with his highest Test score even as a Josh Tongue short-ball, minutes before the session break, denied Jadeja a chance at a century.
With the second new ball only five overs old, surprisingly Ben Stokes opened the attack on the second morning and Gill collected a single right away to bring up the century of his sixth-wicket partnership with Jadeja. The all-rounder got an early warning for encroaching the danger area of the track that irked a few English players. He, however, brushed it off and quickly raced to his 23rd Test half-century – off 80 deliveries – soon after.
England introduced spin in the ninth over of the morning to induce a breakthrough, but with pretty ordinary bowling on offer the hosts were not in luck. By the end of the first hour, India had added 55 runs to their tally in 13 overs. Gill went on to register his best individual Test score with a punch through the covers off Brydon Carse that took him to 148, and two balls later raised his maiden 150 to become only the second Indian skipper to do so in England since Mohammad Azharuddin’s 179 at Old Trafford in 1990.
Shoaib Bashir came under the attack from the well-set pair with Jadeja first lofting one down the ground for a six that raised India’s 400 followed by a slog-sweep behind square from Gill for maximum that brought up the 200 of their partnership.
Josh Tongue, at the other end, resorted to the short-ball ploy that had worked well for England on Day 1 and prised out the breakthrough the hosts had grown desperate for. A bumper from round the wicket had Jadeja beaten for pace and bounce, and he gloved it to the keeper while trying to fend. Even though the wicket lifted England’s spirits, the session belonged to India with 109 runs added at 4.36 RPO for just a solitary wicket.
Brief scores: Inda 419/6 (Shubman Gill 168*, Ravindra Jadeja 89; Chris Woakes 2-81, Ben Stokes 1-74) vs England
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