Stamina, skills and hunger: how do England solve a problem like Shubman Gill? | Mark Ramprakash
India’s new captain was given chance to dictate the second Test and has shown he is one to take over as era of Fab Four wanes
Two games into the series we have already witnessed something very special from Shubman Gill. In the second Test at Edgbaston he produced a real rarity: an individual performance that defines and dominates a game. Not just piling on the runs, but forcing his opponents to toil in the field until they felt exhausted and out of options.
That fatigue affects batters’ mental clarity and their decision-making – what to play, when to leave – as well as their movement and their footwork. Reducing England to 25 for three at the end of the second day went a long way to deciding the match. As well as India bowled with the new ball, it was Gill’s remorselessness that created the conditions for it to happen.