By Karunesh Kumar
Faridabad (Haryana) [India], July 7 : Former India women's cricketer Anjum Chopra hailed Indian test skipper Shubman Gill for his superb double hundred in the first innings, followed by a hundred in the second innings of the 2nd test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
She felt Gill performed stupendously and showed temperament, skills and fitness level in his innings. Gill led from the front following his memorable 269(387) in the first innings and then topped it up with a flamboyant 161(162) in his second turn to rewrite the history books on the fourth day of the second test.
While speaking to ANI, Anjum Chopra said, "In terms of batting, obviously it's a stupendous performance for any batter to score a 100 is special too for a batter to go and score a double 100 is even more special and somebody who can make it two in the same test match that calls for a great applause it shows the temperament the skill and more importantly the fitness level."
With a whopping 430 runs across both innings, Gill has the second-highest aggregate of runs in a single Test, behind England's Graham Gooch, who had an output of 456 runs after scoring 333 and 123 against India at Lord's back in 1990.
Chopra also applauded Indian seamer Akash Deep as he mesmerised one and all with a ten-wicket haul in a critic-silencing, era-defining win over England at Edgbaston by 336 runs, India's first-ever Test win at the venue.
She said coming from an injury and delivering such effort in both innings is very special. The pacer etched his name in the record books by registering the best bowling figures in a match for India in England, surpassing the long-standing record held by Chetan Sharma. Deep's match figures of 10/187 edged past Sharma's 10/188.
"Akash Deep was brilliant not just because he was coming in as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, but I think in itself if you just see it in isolation the performance of him from where he was when in Australia to an injury he picked up he played a very few matches in the recently concluded IPL and then coming in and not just one two but such a massive effort and in both innings it's a very special," she added.
After picking up 4/88 in the first innings to lay the foundation, Akash Deep returned in the second innings to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in Test cricket, finishing with 6/99.
Coming to the match, Team India scripted history by defeating England for the first time at Edgbaston, Birmingham, in Test cricket. The emphatic 336-run victory not only marked a landmark win but also helped India level the five-match Test series 1-1.