"Don't expect him to be a champion captain from Day 1" - Former India coach's huge statement on Shubman Gill after Day 2 of ENG vs IND 2025 2nd Test

Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri urged the management to persist with Shubman Gill as captain, regardless of the team's results, after his record-breaking performance on Day 2 of the second England Test at Edgbaston. The 25-year-old plundered the England attack, scoring a masterful 269 off 387 deliveries with 30 boundaries and three maximums.

Gill also broke numerous batting records in the process, including becoming the first Indian to score 250+ in an innings in SENA conditions. The right-hander also recorded the highest score by an Indian batter in Tests in England, surpassing legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar's 221 in 1979.

Talking about Gill after the close of play on Day 2, Shastri told Sky Sports (6:07):

"It augurs well for India for the future because I thought the selectors did the right job in making him the captain. I also said at that time, 'Do not tickle him for three years'. Let him be there and learn from overseas trips. You are only going to improve. Don't expect him to be a champion captain from Day 1; give him time. The only question was if he could handle the pressure, and that he has answered with two hundreds."

He continued:

"Batting a day and a half, I can't think of four false shots in that entire length of time. He absorbed the pressure as the captain of the side with the team down 0-1. What I liked was what he learnt from that mistake he made in the first Test match. After cruising along, the way he got out and there was a collapse."

"So, that would have played on his mind when he came out to bat this morning. Overnight 114, he would have said 'Listen, I've got to get a big one' and he did just that and hardly put a foot wrong."

Gill's 269 was also the highest-ever score by an Indian captain in Tests, and he became the first Asian captain to score a double century in SENA conditions.

"Just a fabulous double hundred" - Nasser Hussain on Shubman Gill's knock

Former England captain Nasser Hussain hailed Shubman Gill for producing a chanceless double century in the second Test at Edgbaston. The right-hander completed his seventh Test century and a fourth against England.

It was also back-to-back centuries for Gill in his first two matches as India's Test captain after his brilliant 147 in the series opener in Leeds.

"Chanceless. There were no shots where he has fallen over at the crease or nicked it through slip. He is not going to make ugly runs, that's just a fabulous double hundred. He is probably a bit disappointed, he may have been eyeing a triple hundred, maybe even Sehwag's highest total for India," said Hussain (via the aforementioned source).

The skipper's heroics propelled India into a dominant position in the second Test, with the side amassing 587 in their first innings and reducing England to 77/3 at close of play on Day 2.