London [UK], August 4 : Following his side's series draw against England after a six-run win at The Oval in the fifth Test, Indian skipper Shubman Gill reflected on his learnings as a captain and the how each of the four centuries he made meant a lot to him in different ways.
Gill, leading Team India for the first-time ever in whites with a team under transition without their senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami, the youngster played one of the finest series as a captain with 774 runs and four centuries under his belt and led his team to a 2-2 series draw, which was just as good as a series win with the way a young side responded to immense pressure.
Speaking in the post-match presser, Gill said about his captaincy, "I think there are moments like these where you feel the journey is worth it. The moment that we had in the morning. And there have been a lot of highs and lows and that is kind of expected, especially with sports. And obviously, every game or every time you go into bat, you want to be able to perform, you want to be able to score a century. But unfortunately, that's not how the game or life works."
"You should be able to navigate through the highs and lows of life and try to stay balanced throughout. That is what at least I believe in, that I want to be able to stay balanced whether we have won the match, lost the match, I have done well or I have not done well. It is difficult, but it's a process. That is the real journey, to be able to stay balanced. And I am still learning, but so far, so good," he added.
Gill headed into the series without a score of 40 or more outside Asia since his knock of 91 at Brisbane against Australia. There was a massive pressure on him to cross even the 50-run mark, but Gill responded back with four centuries, in different situations and ate into a massive chunk of cricketing record books by himself.
Speaking on his knocks, Gill said, "Each hundred that I scored had a very different significance, if I can say. The one in Leeds was my first match. I was under a bit of pressure, not being able to perform, especially in this format, how I wanted to. So that hundred would always be special for me. And then the double hundred and the hundred in Birmingham to be able to seal that match was also special.
"And the one in Manchester, to be able to save that game from there. Each of them has a story, and each of them means a lot to me, like all the moments that we have had. So, it is difficult to pick just one, because we've played 25 days of cricket on all the grounds. So just to be able to pick one moment, it is very hard," he added.
After England opted to bowl first, they reduced India to 153/6. A 58-run partnership between Karun Nair (57 in 109 balls, with eight fours) and Washington Sundar (26 in 55 balls, with three fours) was the most meaningful part of the inning as India was bundled out for 224 runs. Apart from Gus Atkinson's five-wicket haul, Josh Tongue (3/57) was also good.
In the second innings, four-fers from Siraj (4/86) and Prasidh Krishna (4/62) reduced England to 247, despite a 92-run opening stand between Zak Crawley (64 in 57 balls, with 14 fours) and Ben Duckett (43 in 38 balls, with five fours and two sixes) and a fifty by Harry Brook (53 in 64 balls, with five fours and a six). They led by 23 runs.
In India's second innings, key contributions came from Yashasvi Jaiswal (118 in 164 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes), Akash Deep (66 in 94 balls, with 12 fours), Ravindra Jadeja (53 in 77 balls, with five fours) and Washington Sundar (53 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes). Sundar stitched a very crucial 10th wicket stand with Krishna, with the latter scoring nothing out of it and Sundar doing all the hitting. They all took India to 396 runs, giving them a 373-run lead and setting a target of 374 runs for England to win the series.
India started well, reducing England to 106/3. However, fine centuries from Harry Brook (111 in 98 balls, with 14 fours and two sixes) and Joe Root (105 in 152 balls, with 12 fours) troubled India with a 195-run stand for the fourth wicket. At one point, England was 317/4 on day four. However, a late surge by Siraj (5/104) and Krishna (4/126) shifted the pressure to England, and they were left six runs short, bundled out for 367 runs.
The series is drawn 2-2, reflecting the true nature of how well-fought the series was. The Shubman Gill era has started with immense promise and fight, giving signs of a bright future.