LONDON: Shubman Gill expressed pride in the team’s fighting spirit after a narrow 22-run loss to England in the third Test at Lord’s but lamented the missed opportunity of building at least one fifty-run partnership and the crucial run-out of Rishabh Pant in the first innings.
India were bowled out for 170 in pursuit of 193 despite a valiant, unbeaten 61 off 181 balls by Ravindra Jadeja, who nearly took the team over the line with tailenders Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
“I’m extremely proud. This was as close as a Test match can get — it went the full five days and came down to the final session. I was confident, especially with batting left. We just needed a couple of 50-run stands, but unfortunately, we couldn’t stitch them together,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.
He acknowledged that Pant’s run-out proved costly. “If Pant hadn’t been run out, we could’ve taken a lead of 70–80 runs in the first innings, and we wouldn’t have had to chase close to 200 on a tricky Day 5 pitch.”
On whether players are prioritising personal milestones—following KL Rahul’s admission of a chat with Pant about reaching his hundred before lunch—Gill admitted such conversations do happen. “It was simply a misjudged run. These things can happen. And if you watch the footage, it was KL bhai who was running toward the danger end.”
Gill also backed Jadeja’s cautious approach with just two wickets remaining. “He’s very experienced, and no message was sent from the dressing room. He batted brilliantly with the tail. It was the final hour on Day 4 — perhaps we could have applied ourselves better.”
Reflecting on the series, Gill noted that India had been the dominant side for much of the contest. “Across 15 days of Test cricket, we’ve controlled most sessions. But when we’ve had bad sessions, they’ve cost us dearly. The series scoreline doesn’t reflect how well we’ve actually played.”
