Shubman Gill: Team India captain Shubman Gill revealed what transpired after Gus Atkinson was able to sneak through for a single off the last ball of the 84th over to retain the strike. The bowler, Mohammed Siraj, was left disappointed with wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel’s run-out attempt while donning both gloves on.
Shubman Gill: The contest was on a knife’s edge during the final wicket partnership between Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes. Although both are decent batters, more than capable of handling a tense situation, the veteran seamer was playing with a dislocated shoulder, meaning that he could not be on strike.
Shubman Gill: Team India wanted to capitalize on that fact by keeping Atkinson off strike, and had the opportunity to do so towards the end of the 84th over. The right-handed batter failed to make any contact against Siraj’s full and wide delivery, and was forced to scamper through for a single, with Woakes also taking off from the other end.
Shubman Gill: Jurel, however, responded with a tame throw as the ball came off sluggishly off the gloves, not even close to hitting the stumps. Siraj cut a frustrated figure after England escaped unscathed while asking skipper Gill something as well.
Shubman Gill: “He told me to tell Dhruv Jurel to take off his gloves for a run-out chance, By the time I told Dhruv, Siraj ran away, so we did not get the time. So after the run-out chance was missed, he asked me why didn’t I tell Dhruv to take off the glove?” Gill said during the post-series press conference (via Times of India).
Shubman Gill: In the next over, Jurel was spotted with one glove off in a bid to hit the stumps much more effectively if a similar chance had presented itself again.
Shubman Gill: However, Siraj took matters into his own hands in his next over, sending in a searing yorker to castle Gus Atkinson and seal the narrow six-run win. Gill recalled the chat he had with head coach Gautam Gambhir prior to the series, where he referred to the team as a ‘gun team’, and not a ‘young team’.
“Before the start of the series, Gauti bhai said that yes we are a young team, but we don’t want to be looked as a young team, we want to be looked as a gun team. The way we played today, it showed why we are a gun team, and we have gun players like him (Siraj) in the team, and that is what makes this team so special,” the skipper said.
The result comes across as a major pressure reliever for Gautam Gambhir, whose red-ball credentials were in serious doubt after the whitewash at home against New Zealand, and the 1-3 loss to Australia in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar series, costing a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
“It is difficult to just pick one” – Shubman Gill on the favorite hundred of his historic series against England
Shubman Gill was asked to pick the favorite among the four hundreds that he amassed in the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The right-handed batter scripted history by piling on 754 runs in five Tests, narrowly missing out on Sunil Gavaskar’s iconic 771-run tally set in 1971.
“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, of not being able to perform, especially in this format how I wanted. So, that 100 would always be special for me. Then the double hundred and hundred in Birmingham was also special, and the one in Manchester to be able to save that game. Each of them has a story, and each of them means a lot to me. So, it is difficult to just pick one,” Gill said.
The Indian skipper also urged that the idea of Test cricket potentially being reduced to four-days should not be entertained at any cost.
“If Test match was a four-day event, then all five matches in this series would have been drawn. I think Test cricket should be as it is. In my opinion, it is the most rewarding and satisfying format,” Gill added.
India’s 2025 tour of England is only the fourth time since 2000 that all five Tests in a series have gone five days. The fifth Test at The Oval was all poised to finish on Day 4, courtesy of a chaotic first two days on a green top, but weather pushed the match into Day 5 eventually, maintaining the streak in the series.
