Shubman Gill walked into this series with only five first-class games of captaincy behind him. Questions followed: could he score away from home, could he marshal a bowling group missing Jasprit Bumrah for two Tests, and could a batting unit shorn of two senior pillars survive English conditions?
Two months on, India reach The Oval 2-1 down but able to square the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. “Very significant,” Gill said of the possibility of leaving London at 2-2, having lost in Leeds, rebounded in Birmingham without Bumrah, flirted with a heist at Lord’s and escaped with a gritty draw in Manchester.
Hot weather and docile surfaces have stretched players and physios alike, even ruling Ben Stokes out of the finale. Every match has lurched deep into the last session, and Gill feels India have earned the right to dream.
“If you look at the kind of cricket we have played, sometimes the scorecard of the series, as in where we are in the series, doesn’t determine that. Every match that we have played, it was very difficult to decide which team is going to win after four days of cricket. If we are able to do that for every match for four matches coming outside of India with a relatively young team, it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series.”
History offers mixed comfort. India won 1-0 here in 2007 under Rahul Dravid and drew 2-2 in 2021 under Rohit Sharma, both skippers steeped in leadership. Gill is learning in public. Mistakes have surfaced; acknowledgements have been quick. “The series has been a great learning curve for me,” he reflected. “There are some things that you can only learn from experience, and I’ve learned so much from these four matches that we have played and hopefully we’re going to finish on a high.”
One lesson arrived on the third morning at Old Trafford. The pitch was arid, tailor-made for Washington Sundar’s drift, yet Gill held the off-spinner back until after lunch. Washington then removed Ollie Pope and Harry Brook within minutes, and post-match commentary questioned the delay. Gill did not hide.
“It’s very difficult when you are playing six bowlers; then one or two bowlers are definitely going to be under-bowled,” he said, noting that the previous Test had sparked similar debate over Washington’s workload. Such tactical wrinkles are part of the captaincy apprenticeship, and insiders say Gill has sought advice from senior pros as well as analytics staff.
Selection for The Oval remains open. Mohammed Siraj’s late-series burst tempts a four-prong seam attack, yet the surface can turn and Ravindra Jadeja’s control is valued. Former England quick Steve Harmison told a local broadcaster India “should resist the urge to go all-pace” and back their two spinners to outlast a batting order minus Stokes.
Gill, meanwhile, keeps focus narrow. He is averaging 41 for the trip, batting time rather than chasing highlights. Team-mates speak of calm dressing-room messages: own your plans, trust the process, embrace the grind. The language is hardly new, but delivery matters.
Should India square things, Gill will claim parity not perfection, aware sterner tours lurk. For now the chance is simple: one Test, five days, level the ledger and fly home with heads held high.
