Young Indian sensation Shubman Gill led the fightback for the hosts along with wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel to clinch the Ranchi Test by four wickets. By virtue of the victory, Team India took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-Test series. It was also the first Test series defeat for England under the captaincy of Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum.

Gill and Jurel stitched an unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership of 72 runs to help India sail over the line. The young Gill showed great character and proved that class is permanent as he faced 124 deliveries to score 52 runs without a boundary. His knock comes after being in criticism for his lack of consistency. However, in the last two Tests, Gill showed that he is sparking back to form by hitting scores of 91 and 104.

Interestingly, his 124-ball unbeaten knock placed him in the record books as only Salem Jaffar (221+) and JR Watkins (166) have faced more deliveries without hitting the ball to the fence. Talking about his resilient knock, Gill spoke about his mindset to take the hosts home.

“You have to see the situation and play accordingly – they were bowling well and protecting the boundaries, also not giving maidens and keep picking the singles (was the mindset). I just told him (Jurel) you batted beautifully in the first innings and to have the same mindset, try to use the feet to negate the off-spinner,” Gill said.

“The way he came down and played was beautiful. The first innings the ball was not turning much and hence I didn”t use my feet, but second innings I decided to take the LBW out of the equation by using my feet. It means the world to us, coming here and having to play the series with not much batting experience, having lost KL after the first Test.. but Rohit Bhai backed us and gave us the confidence to go out and play with freedom.”

Gill has amassed 342 runs in the ongoing India vs England series. He would be keen to make the most of his chances in the fifth and final Test in Dharmsala.