India’s Edgbaston Epic: A Record-Breaking Victory for Captain Gill

India conquered the Birmingham fortress by defeating England by a massive score of 336 runs. The Bazball approach seemed to falter in the Test match. From Day 1, India looked completely in control, giving away nothing to the English players. The visitors put on a terrific batting display, becoming the first team to score 1014 runs in a single Test match. Gill and his men delivered a world-class performance to level the 5-match series at 1

Captain Gill Leading From The Front

Shubman Gill did not just bat, but he was there to break every record that has ever been made by any Indian batter before him. Gill mesmerized everyone with his batting performance. In the 1^st innings, he made 269 (387) runs, followed by another daddy hundred, scoring 161 (162). First player in 148 years to score a double hundred and 150 in the same match, his combined 430 runs in a test match stands as the highest by any Indian in the history of a test match and the second highest by anyone in the world after the great Graham Gooch’s 456.

If these records were not enough, here are some more of them. He became the third youngest captain to score a double hundred after Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and Graeme Smith, while surpassing several Indian legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, and Sunil Gavaskar. Gill is only 17 runs behind to score the most runs by any Indian player in a test series in England, and he still has 3 more test matches in this series to break this record.

Brilliance With the Ball by Indian Seamers

With Jasprit Bumrah on rest, everyone was worried about the Indian bowling unit, but Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep took care of everything. There were a lot of questions on Siraj’s performance, but this time he shut down all the noise with his bowling. Siraj has done it before and did it again in this test match, taking 6/70 in the 1^st innings and controlling the Bazball single-handedly. He became the only 4^th Indian Bowler to take a fifer at Birmingham after Chetan Sharma, Kapil Dev, and Ishant Sharma.

A Thunderstorm named Akash Deep

Akash Deep recentered the spotlight on himself amidst the lack of audience support with his astonishing bowling performance. He took 10 wickets in the match, including 6/99 in the second innings. Akash Deep dedicated his performance to his sister, who has been fighting cancer for the last two months. Akash Deep’s performance has been praised across the globe because of his brilliance with the ball.  

A Subcontinental Deck according to Captain Ben Stokes

England’s skipper and his team have always been proud of their so-called “Bazball” approach, but it didn’t give them a good result in this game. However, Jamie Smith scored a record-breaking hundred in the first innings, 184 (207), along with Harry Brook’s brilliance of 158 (234). Ben Stokes offered a very candid statement saying, “It ended up being more of a subcontinent pitch as it got deeper and deeper into the game.” This statement has created a sensation on social media. The fact is that they have lost to India at this venue for the first time since 1967.  

The Indian team dominated this game consistently, both with the ball and with the bat. Gill turned doubters into believers with the knock of a lifetime. While Siraj and Akash Deep preyed on English batters like deprived predators, breaking England’s backbone. With over 1000 runs, England had no answers to the punches India threw at them. England was outplayed, outclassed, and outmuscled by India in every department. England, on the other hand, has added another pacer, Gus Atkinson, after Jofra Archer in the squad, who can be included in the 3^rd game at the Lord’s, where Bumrah may also make a comeback, leaving a question on whom to opt out of the Indian bowling unit for the third test.