Former South Africa: Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has praised Shubman Gill for his sublime century in the second innings of the second Test between India and England and emphasized it as the game-changing inning.
On the pivotal third day of the match, despite the early setbacks of losing two wickets with India precariously placed at 30/2, Gill remained undeterred, and with each elegant stroke, he went on to score 104 runs off 147 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes. It was his third century in Test cricket and his first while batting at the number three position for India. His partnership with Shreyas Iyer served as the backbone of India’s innings, providing the stability that helped India set England a target of 399 in their second inning.
“He (Gill) came to Vizag and just showed the incredible character that the young man has got. What an incredible player. I don’t know if he has worked on his technique at all or has anything changed, but it just shows you the talent he has got. In the second innings of a big Test match, that was a telling hundred and let me tell you, that was the difference between the two sides,” said De Villiers on his YouTube channel.
Indeed, amidst the fiery spells of Jasprit Bumrah and the monumental innings of Yashasvi Jaiswal, it was Gill’s sheer brilliance that tipped the scales in India’s favor.
AB de Villiers also claimed that England captain Ben Stokes was right to feel a bit hard done by with the way opener Zak Crawley was adjudged LBW in the fourth-innings chase.
“I am looking at it now and I feel it is not hitting the leg stump (Crawley LBW). It might just clip or touch the outer part of the leg-stump, which ultimately would be umpire’s call. Technology has made decisions more accurate, but they need to make sure that the cameras are right in line with the middle stump at both ends and not at an angle. Ben Stokes was a little bit upset and rightfully so.”