Shubman Gill marked his era of captaincy in home Tests in some style as he registered his eighth half-century on Day 2 of the first match against the West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. The right-hander took 91 balls to complete the milestone. He brought up his half-century by taking a single down the ground off the bowling of Khary Pierre in the 56th over of the innings.
As soon as he completed his fifty, Gill joined former India captain Sunil Gavaskar in an elusive list as he became the first Indian skipper in 47 years to hit a half-century in his first home Test as the captain.
Gavaskar had achieved the feat way back in 1978 against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium. The 1983 World Cup winner had gone on to eventually play a knock of 205 runs. However, Gill was unable to register a century as his innings came to a premature conclusion when he was dismissed by Roston Chase on the final delivery of the 57th over.
Gill attempted to go for a reverse sweep as Chase went around the wicket. The ball hit him on the bat sticker and as a result, it lobbed up to slip fielder Justin Greaves, who ended up taking a simple catch. This was the second time in Tests that Gill lost his wicket while trying to play a reverse sweep off the bowling of a spinner.
{{/usCountry}}Gill attempted to go for a reverse sweep as Chase went around the wicket. The ball hit him on the bat sticker and as a result, it lobbed up to slip fielder Justin Greaves, who ended up taking a simple catch. This was the second time in Tests that Gill lost his wicket while trying to play a reverse sweep off the bowling of a spinner.
{{/usCountry}}Gill entered the Test series against the West Indies after setting the stage on fire in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England, scoring 754 runs in five matches. He was also adjudged as India's Player of the Series after the visitors walked away with a 2-2 result.
India dominating the Ahmedabad Test
Gill put on 98 runs for the third wicket alongside opening batter KL Rahul. This stand helped India take the lead after the hosts bowled out West Indies for 162 in the first innings.
For India, Mohammed Siraj returned with four wickets while Jasprit Bumrah took three as West Indies were not even able to post 200 runs on the board.
Earlier, the West Indies captain Chase won the toss and opted to bat first. The series against the Windies marks the beginning of the home season for India, which will see the hosts also facing South Africa in a two-match series.