Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Saba Karim hailed Shubman Gill for his leadership on the fifth day of the last Test match against England at the Kennington Oval, London. India had only 35 runs left in the tank whereas England had four wickets in hand.
Mohammed Siraj was right on the money from the get-go and scalped three wickets on the final day to help India register a memorable six-run win. Siraj accounted for Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, and Gus Atkinson, whereas Prasidh Krishna dismissed Josh Tongue.
Gill kept all the fielders in the deep as he didn’t want England to get any boundaries towards the fag end.
“The 45 minutes to one hour’s play that happened today (Monday), I feel Shubman Gill’s captaincy was properly tested there, his temperament, and the kind of decisions he takes. This was the most critical phase of the entire Test series. One can understand that you had to bowl Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna only, and you didn’t have to take the second new ball,” Saba Karim said on Sony Sports.
The former Indian selector said Gill had a difficult job of setting the field with England getting closer to the target of 374.
“However, he had to decide what field positionings to keep when you had two batters first, and then when the last pair was at the crease. Chris Woakes was at the other end, and you knew Gus Atkinson was trying to play shots at one end, and he played shots as well,” Saba elaborated.
Karim showered praise on Gill for backing his instincts when Atkinson and Woakes were at the crease.
“I feel making those decisions was the most difficult for Shubman. He said another excellent thing when he spoke to (Cheteshwar) Pujara. He said he had come with plans and strategies, but, in the end, he took many instinctive decisions. I feel these are subtle signs that you want to create your own image,” he observed.
On the other hand, Gill had a fantastic series with the bat, amassing 754 runs in five Test matches at an average of 75.4. Karim said there was no captaincy pressure on Gill when he was batting.
“The way he started, it seemed like there was no pressure of captaincy when he was batting, and that should be the case as well. You became a young captain because the selectors showed faith in your batting. He inspired the team with his game. He has contributed somehow or other in every Test match,” he responded.
Gill would look to carry the good form in the Asia Cup.
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