BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom (AFP) — India Captain Shubman Gill said he was happy “to lead by example” after his stunning run-spree in a series-levelling win against England in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Gill, despite long being regarded as an exceptional talent, arrived in England with a modest Test batting average of under 36.

There were also doubts about how Gill would impose his authority after being thrust into the captaincy following Rohit Sharma’s retirement from Test cricket in May.

And the new skipper also had to occupy the number four position of childhood hero Virat Kohli after he too called time on his Test career.

Yet, at Edgbaston Gill became the first batsman in Test history to score 250 and 150 in the same match, thanks to superb innings of 269 and 161 as India thrashed England by 336 runs.

Victory, the first by an India side in their nine Tests at Edgbaston, levelled the five-match series at 1-1 heading into next week’s encounter with England at Lord’s.

Gill’s extraordinary exploits at Edgbaston were not even his first hundreds of this series as they followed his 147 in his debut as India captain — a five-wicket loss in the first Test at Headingley.

Gill’s already huge tally of 585 runs in this series at a colossal average of 146.25 has left the 25-year-old eyeing one of cricket’s most formidable records.

Long considered unbreakable, Australia great Don Bradman’s 90-year-old mark of 974 runs in a series, the most scored by any batsman in a single Test campaign, could now be within Gill’s sights.

“Especially when you are the captain, I think you need to lead by example, so whenever there is another player in that situation you can tell that player, ‘This is what the team requires right now,’ “ Gill told reporters after India won before tea on Sunday’s final day at Edgbaston.

“That’s what I wanted to do in this match. If a good ball gets me out, it gets me out. But as long as I am there I want to play as long as possible,” he added.

India’s win at Edgbaston also owed much to a superb display by Akash Deep.

Given the daunting task of replacing spearhead quick Jasprit Bumrah, rested at Edgbaston, he responded with a career-best match return of 10-147.

The 28-year-old’s haul included second-innings figures of 6-99 as England, set what would have been a new Test record chase of 608, were dismissed for just 271.

“He bowled with so much heart and skilfully with his lengths,” said Gill. “He moved it in both directions, which was tough to do. He was magnificent for us.”

England fast-bowling great Stuart Broad, who took 604 Test wickets in an outstanding career, was impressed by Deep’s accuracy on a flat pitch.

“He brings the stumps into play, nips the ball — even with the second new ball with Harry Brook [in the first innings] — through the gate and off stump out of the ground,” Broad told
Sky Sports. “He’s a real threat.”

Gill confirmed that the gifted Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, would return at Lord’s where he will now surely be joined in India’s pace attack by Deep, with Prasidh Krishna likely to drop out.

SCOREBOARD

India 1st Innings 587

England 1st Innings 407

India 2nd Innings 427-6 dec

England 2nd Innings (target: 608, overnight 72-3)

B Duckett b Deep 25

Z Crawley c sub (Sai Sudharsan) b Siraj 0

O Pope b Deep 24

J Root b Deep 6

H Brook lbw b Deep 23

B Stokes lbw b Sundar 33

J Smith c Sundar b Deep 88

C Woakes c Siraj b Krishna 7

B Carse c Gill b Deep 38

J Tongue c Siraj b Jadeja 2

S Bashir not out 12

Extras (b4, lb4, nb3, w2) 13

Total (all out, 68.1 overs, 317 mins) 271

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Crawley), 2-30 (Duckett), 3-50

(Root), 4-80 (Pope), 5-83 (Brook), 6-153 (Stokes),

7-199 (Woakes), 8-226 (Smith), 9-246 (Tongue), 10-271

(Carse)

Bowling: Deep 21.1-2-99-6 (1nb); Siraj 12-3-57-1 (1nb,

1w); Krishna 14-2-39-1 (1nb, 1w); Jadeja 15-4-40-1;

Sundar 6-2-28-1

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman

Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (wkt), Nitish Kumar Reddy,

Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep,

Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Result: India won by 336 runs

Player of the match: Shubman Gill (IND)

Series: Five-match series level at 1-1

Toss: England

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Sharfuddoula (BAN)

TV Umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS)

Match Referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

India Captain Shubman Gill