Shubman Gill's towering double century coupled with Ravindra Jadeja's gritty fifty helped India concluded their first innings on a commanding note as they piled up 587 before getting all out on Day 2 of the second Test against England.
Shubman Gill's historic 269 off 387 and Ravindra Jadeja's resilient 89 frustrated England bowlers to the hilt. Later Washington Sundar also chipped in with a well-crafted 42 to add to India's mammoth total.
Resuming their innings from an overnight score of 310/5, Jadeja and Gill had established a strong 203-run partnership. However, their stand was broken when Jadeja was dismissed by a Josh Tongue (2/119) bouncer. Despite this setback, Gill continued to impress with his elegant drives and well-timed flicks, causing trouble for the England bowlers.
As the home team's bowling attack toiled in the summer heat, Gill appeared untroubled. He patiently built his innings in the first session and then accelerated the scoring after lunch. One over from Tongue saw him hit for two boundaries, the second of which nearly resulted in a collision between England's Joe Root (1/20) and Zak Crawley near the boundary rope.
Washington Sundar, who had faced a barrage of bouncers upon his arrival before lunch, later retaliated against Tongue by pulling him for a six over the fine leg boundary. Gill then reached his double century with a controlled pull shot to fine leg. The 25-year-old celebrated this milestone by removing his helmet and making his signature bow to a standing ovation, becoming the first Indian captain to score a double hundred in England.
England captain Ben Stokes then gave the ball to part-time bowler Harry Brook, but Gill capitalized on this change by hitting him for three consecutive boundaries. In doing so, he surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's 46-year-old record for the highest score by an Indian in England (221 runs in 1979). Gill continued to dominate the attack, expertly manipulating the field placements with a mix of classical and innovative shots, sending the ball to all parts of the ground.
With Sundar playing a patient supporting role, Gill entered Twenty20 mode, and together they took India past the 500-run mark. A rare outside edge resulted in a boundary, taking the captain to 250 runs as Brook reacted with a wry smile. This score made Gill the first Indian to score more than 250 runs outside the Indian subcontinent, breaking Sachin Tendulkar's record of 241, and also the highest-ever score by an Indian captain, surpassing Virat Kohli's 254.
The 144-run partnership for the seventh wicket was eventually broken when Root was brought back into the attack. His delivery managed to breach Sundar's defense and hit the middle stump, dismissing him for a well-compiled 42 runs.
Later, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna chipped in with the scores of 6, 8 and 5 but by then India had already piled up a mammoth total of 587 before letting the England batters hold the willow for the first time in two days.
Shoaib Bashir with 3/167 was the pick of the bowlers for England while Chris Woakes and Josh Tongue took two wickets each.