ENG vs IND | ‘The series has been a great learning curve for me’ - Gill on first assignment as captain

‌It has been a roller coaster ride for Shubman Gill and his inexperienced Indian side during the five-Test series in England. After starting the series with a five-wicket defeat to the hosts in a high-scoring game at Headingley in Leeds last month, the side bounced back to reverse the script in the next. Captain Gill led from the front with a double century and a hundred in each innings to notch a huge 336-run victory in Birmingham.

As the action moved to Lord’s, the game saw some much-needed balance between bat and ball as the visitors fought hard before losing out by 22 runs in a close tie. The fourth game saw India showing character and putting on a gritty display to save the match after being reduced to 0/2 while trailing by 311 runs in Manchester.

As both teams move back to London for the final Test at The Oval, starting on Thursday, Shubman Gill was proud of the way this young side has lived up to the challenge so far. With the experienced duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announcing their retirements ahead of the marquee series and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah available only for three Tests, India has done well under new skipper Gill to stay alive till the last game.

"If you look at the kind of cricket we have played, sometimes the scorecard of the series, as in where we are in the series, doesn't determine that. Every match that we have played, it was very difficult to decide which team was going to win after four days of cricket," Gill said.

"If we can do that for every match for four matches coming outside of India with a relatively young team, it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series."

"The series has been a great learning curve for me," Gill said. "There are some things that you can only learn from experience, and I've learned so much from these four matches that we have played, and hopefully we're going to finish on a high."