Breaking records and ending spells of underperformance, Gill-led India reverses ‘Bazball’ card on England

NEW DELHI: Backdrop, a vocal and loud English crowd at a beautiful Headingley Stadium, is well behind their hero Ben Stokes. Circumstances, a young captain Shubman Gill and a new-look Indian team shoved into a highly anticipated and difficult England assignment away from home following the retirements of icons Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. What happened next could be one of the most cherished days of Indian cricket, depending on the series scoreline in August.

A talented, but inexperienced Indian team led by Gill was not only battling England, but also the scrutiny of the public back home, still not over the retirements of their favourite heroes. “This time, we will lose 5-0”, “Gill has not touched 40 runs outside Asia, yet he is the captain”, “No Tests without Rohit, Virat”, “Joe Root will outscore everyone”, such were the sentiments of a considerable crowd of cynics on social media as the tour drew closer. But with centuries from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Gill and one potentially coming from vice-captain Rishabh Pant, India may have silenced these voices, at least for the duration of this match.

First Test century as India 𝓬𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓪𝓲𝓷 for Shubman Gill #ENGvIND : https://t.co/FXxW1HkGLm pic.twitter.com/dkaDdWvsmH

— ICC (@ICC) June 20, 2025

-An ominous opening act from Jaiswal-KL Rahul

After England opted to bowl first following the coin toss in their favour, the pair of experienced Chris Woakes and skipper Ben Stokes was expected to create some trouble for Indian openers along with his young, energetic partners in crime, Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue on a 9mm grassy surface which could provide some scary movement.

But an onslaught of boundaries followed. While Jaiswal cut and drove gracefully, there was ruthlessness in KL’s classy cover drives. By the time Carse struck to remove KL for a 78-ball 42, ending a 91-run opening stand, England had already been peppered with 16 fours, eight apiece each from both openers. It was the highest opening stand by an Indian pair in the first innings of a first Test in England.

England needed their skipper Ben Stokes, having battled injuries for so long, to send back a young debutant Sai Sudharsan for a duck and restore some balance, ending the first session at 92/2.

Yashasvi Jaiswal notches up a gritty hundred in his first-ever Test innings on England soil #ENGvIND : https://t.co/FXxW1HkGLm pic.twitter.com/Oa1b4ghj0t

— ICC (@ICC) June 20, 2025

-Jaiswal in a league of legends, Gill joins demolition act

Given Jaiswal’s fine outings in the West Indies and Australia, the class he showed during the first innings was more or less expected. Skipper Gill had not crossed the 40-run mark outside Asia for 10 Tests since his iconic 91 against Australia at Brisbane back in 2021 and had a gigantic burden to get rid of.

Some scrumptious drives followed as the new skipper looked in supreme touch. Finally, Gill raced to his first fifty outside Asia since 2021 in 56 balls. Jaiswal attached another South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia (SENA) country ton in 144 balls, his fifth overall, and none were against Asian nations.

The left hander- joined former Indian skipper, Saurav Ganguly (131 at Lord’s, 1996), Vijay Manjrekar (133 at Leeds, 1952), Sandeep Patil (129* at Manchester, 1982) and Murali Vijay (146 at Nottingham, 2014) to score Test ton in their first-ever Test inning on English soil.

Jaiswal also joined Vijay Manjrekar, MAK Pataudi, Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar to score tons at Leeds, an elite group of legends. The 23-year-old pushed up his numbers against England in Don Bradman territory, as he has the highest batting average among players who have played at least five Tests and scored at least 500 runs against England. In six Tests, he has scored 813 runs across 10 innings at an average of 90.33, with three centuries and fifties each.

The left-hander, who has scored centuries in maiden Test outings in West Indies, Australia, and now England, continues to prove why he could be India’s overseas cheat code for the future. The second session ended with India 215/2.

Stumps Day 1 | India 359/3 (85 ov)

Gill the commander-in-chief!
Unbeaten on 127*, led the charge after Jaiswal’s 101

Pant adds flair with 65*, India in full control.

England chose to bowl, Gill chose to rule !#INDvsENG | #INDvsENGTest pic.twitter.com/NB04T2K5bR

— Raja Mishra (@raja_mishra02) June 20, 2025

-Gill gets monkey off his back, does a ‘King Kohli’ repeat act

While England had to rely on another Stokes miracle to clean up Jaiswal for 101 (159 balls, 16 fours and a six), Gill continued undeterred, piling up runs brick by brick. Finally, it had to happen. The promise and potential showed more signs of fulfilment as Gill reached his first-ever Test century outside Asia in 140 balls, with 14 fours.

He followed the footsteps of legendary names like Vijay Hazare (1951), Sunil Gavaskar (1976), and Virat Kohli (2014), becoming the fourth Indian to reach triple figures in the first innings as Test captain. Interestingly, he also touched the 2,000 run Test mark during his debut as Test captain, just like Virat had done at Adelaide 11 years back in Australia.

India was under similar circumstances back in 2014, with plenty of legends having retired after series losses in England and Australia during the last three years, and the time demanded that a new leader step in following a long string of poor showings under MS Dhoni as captain. Kohli did just that, peeling off four tons against Australia away from home on a tour that saw him make 692 runs.

At the end of the day’s play, Gill’s Test stats read: 2,020 runs in 33 Tests, 60 innings, average of 37.40 with six centuries and seven fifties. By the time the series ends, fans would no doubt love to see the batting average move into the early-to-mid 40s and have the numbers truly match the sheer class and neatness of Gill’s strokeplay.

-‘Pantball’ overtakes ‘Thala’

Rishabh Pant had joined Gill after Jaiswal’s wicket, and he welcomed Stokes with a four on the second ball, a soothing sight after a colossal failure that was his 2025 IPL stint with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), except for a century against champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).

During the course of his half-century, Pant overtook Dhoni to become Asia’s most successful wicketkeeper in SENA conditions and also brought up his 3,000 Test runs, becoming only the second after Dhoni to do so.

In SENA, Pant has 1,746 runs in 27 matches and 49 innings at an average of 38.80, with four centuries and six fifties. With the best score of 159*. In 44 Tests so far, he has made 3,013 runs at an average of 43.04, with six centuries, 16 fifties.

The day ended with India at a monstrous 359/3, with Gill (127*) and Pant (65*) unbeaten. This is the most runs scored by India on the first day of a Test match in England, surpassing 338/7 at Edgbaston in 2022. The last time a visiting team scored as many on the first day in England was South Africa’s 362/4 at the Oval in 2003.

Also, Jaiswal-Gill centuries were only the third instance of two Indian batters scoring a ton on the first day of a tour, joining the elite company of: Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag (vs South Africa, Bloemfontein, 2001) and Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara (vs Sri Lanka at Galle in 2017)

Scoring at a run rate of 4.22, with 46 boundaries and four sixes, India did a very solid ‘Bazball’ impression against its inventors, never letting the burden of the past take over and displaying extremely positive and attacking strokeplay. Will India continue with their dominance on day two? (ANI)