"It is like passing an exam" - Ajay Jadeja lauds Shubman Gill's maiden Test century

Ajay Jadeja has said that Shubman Gill scoring his maiden Test century was akin to passing an exam.

Gill scored 110 runs off 152 deliveries as India declared their second innings at 258/2 in the first Test against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Friday, December 16. KL Rahul and Co. set a massive 513-run fourth-innings target for the hosts but could not pick up a wicket in the 12 overs they bowled before Stumps on Day 3.

During a discussion on Sony Sports, Jadeja was asked about his thoughts on Gill's maiden Test century, to which he responded:

"A century in Test cricket is a very big moment. I don't even know how it feels. It is just a number but a very important one. I can only talk about myself and not about others. It is like passing an exam, this number has an effect like that.

The former Indian skipper reckons Cheteshwar Pujara might have different emotions when compared to Gill, although both achieved the same milestone, elaborating:

"You can talk about the pressure or the wait for that, Shubman Gill needs to savor that moment. If you see Cheteshwar Pujara, who had scored 18 centuries, when he scored one after three years, it is a different celebration."

Pujara smashed an unbeaten 102 off 130 balls, his first Test century since January 2019. The duo strung together a 113-run second-wicket partnership which provided the required momentum to India's innings.

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"We have only seen him moving forward" - Ajay Jadeja on the ever-improving Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill struck 10 fours and three sixes during his innings. [P/C: BCCI]

Jadeja praised Gill for showing continuous improvement in his game since his arrival on the big stage. He stated:

"Shubman Gill has the ability and the best thing I find about him is that we have only seen him moving forward since we have seen him. A player comes in whom you see a lot of talent but if you see two or four years later, he is still stuck there. He has added something whenever we have seen him."

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted the contrasting journeys of Gill and Prithvi Shaw in international cricket, explaining:

"I hope his wagon will only move ahead from here because this guy has shown that he is not one of those who have gone back after scoring one. Prithvi Shaw is also his age group, he scored a century in his first Test but he is not even around at the moment. So just like that wagon has gone back, this wagon is steadily moving ahead."

Both Gill and Shaw came into the limelight during India's Under-19 World Cup triumph in 2018. The latter, who was the skipper of that side, made a century on his Test debut against West Indies but subsequently fell behind in the pecking order due to fitness and performance-related issues.