At 5.35pm on the fourth day of what can already be dubbed Shubman Gill’s Test match, the raucous Hollies Stand at Edgbaston broke out into a chant of “stand up if you still believe”. England were 30 for one, having been set a fanciful 608 to win, and General Melchett’s pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face sprung to mind.
Not that they were stood up for long. Within moments Ben Duckett was the second English batter trudging back to the pavilion, eyes down, after his stumps had been rearranged by Akash Deep. This was the latest gut punch for the hosts on a day that had plenty to choose from, Gill’s earlier 161 – a dream-like follow-up to his first innings 269 – having racked up 427 for six declared before his seamers got to work.
At stumps the situation was even more bleak for England, with the aggressive Deep having bowled Joe Root neck and crop with a humdinger and the scoreboard reading 72 for three from 16 overs. Ben Stokes and his men like to say they can chase anything but 536 runs still to knock off on the final day of a Test? Behave.
Although day five, with Ollie Pope and Harry Brook resuming, will be no less fascinating: the acid test of whether their long-held contempt for the draw is unshakable. Not that England should not be positive in their outlook. Their hopes of batting out three sessions on this road will probably diminish if they attempt to drop anchor. Equally, sitting 1-0 up, a mindless charge to defeat chasing impossible glory would be hard to explain.
They face an India seam attack that has thus far extracted far more from this torpid pitch and been suitably rested through Gill’s mastery. India’s young captain began this tour with big shoes to fill – the hallowed No 4 occupied by Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar before him – but with 585 runs so far and three Tests to come, he could legitimately take on Don Bradman’s series record of 974 runs during the 1930 Ashes.
It was another one of those days for England with the ball, the kind where the attack’s limitations are exposed, the bumper plans are an exercise in futility, and a hungry batting line-up duly loosens the belt and tucks in. Stokes and his men tried to project positivity as they waited for the final equation – Harry Brook likes to perform the odd random handstand – but some of the sloppy fielding told a different story.
Gill was again the hungriest on show and has been so at home in Birmingham there is every chance India’s captain will start calling people “Bab” after this one. The numbers chalked up have been ridiculous, Gill’s 430 runs across the two innings obliterating Graeme Smith’s record of 362 runs by a visiting player in a Test in England.
For a period after tea, when Gill was launching sixes for fun in a bid to push the target past 600, there was a chance that the 456 runs Graham Gooch plundered against India at Lord’s in 1990 – the highest Test match aggregate by any player – might be in danger. Saving that record made for a hollow English victory, Shoaib Bashir inducing a leading edge, pocketing the catch, and sending Gill on his way with a handshake.
This has been Bashir’s heaviest workload in a Test, the off-spinner sending down 71 overs for combined figures of five for 286. And in the series, albeit with precious little to work with, all of his eight dismissals have been a case of the batter looking to take him down. Offering precious little in the field or with the bat, yet blessed with attributes and still a stripling at 21, Bashir remains something of a headache for the selectors.
And these headaches are now mounting up, with Chris Woakes battling against the sands of time and Brydon Carse struggling in this Test with an apparent recurrence of his toe problems. To his credit, Carse did manage to push through first thing when India resumed on 64 for one – a working over of Karun Nair ended with a beauty to take the edge – but it is hard to see him being ready for Lord’s on Thursday.
That dismissal, plus a sizzling outswinger from Josh Tongue to rip out KL Rahul’s middle stump for 55, came when the ball was still young and with the floodlights assisting the natural light. But things eased considerably, Gill and Rishabh Pant swelling the lead by 110 runs and Ravindra Jadeja joining his captain to add 175 more.
While Jadeja was happy to support Gill with a largely watchful unbeaten 69, Pant’s earlier 65 was another for his collection of mad ones. Three sixes were sent flying during his hour at the crease, as did his bat on a couple occasions. On the second of these slapstick moments he holed out off Bashir, forcing a detour to collect it en route to the pavilion.
Yet for all the comedy on show, Pant should have been snuffed out on 10 when Crawley grassed a regulation chance at mid-off. So central to the chase in Headingley, Crawley’s follow-up has summed up England’s match as a whole, his day ending with a slash to backward point off Mohammed Siraj and their seventh duck overall.
