"He showed that he is the boss and is going to play like one" - Aakash Chopra on Shubman Gill's century in IND vs WI 2025 2nd Test

Former India player Aakash Chopra has noted that Shubman Gill bossed the West Indies attack during his unbeaten century in the second Test in Delhi. He highlighted that the Indian captain played shots that are generally not played against seamers in Test cricket.

Gill scored an unbeaten 129 off 196 balls as India declared their first innings at 518/5 on Day 2 (Saturday, October 11). The West Indies were 140/4 in their first innings at Stumps, trailing the hosts by 378 runs.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Chopra was asked about his thoughts on Gill's aggressive batting approach.

"He was using his feet a little and going forward. There was no pace in the bowling. You are trying to generate that pace yourself. You are going towards the ball, using the momentum of your body a little. You wanted to show domination. These shots are never on against fast bowlers in Test cricket," the former India opener responded. "You don't play fast bowlers after stepping out in red-ball cricket. If you are doing that, it is a reflection of your clear mindset, that what you are trying to do is not conditions or situation dependent, it was just your thought process. He showed that he is the boss and is going to play like one," he added.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Shubman Gill's strokeplay reflected his confidence, slight arrogance, and an attempt to establish his dominance.

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"We saw a slightly more attacking Shubman Gill" - Parthiv Patel on Indian captain's century in IND vs WI 2025 2nd Test

Shubman Gill struck 16 fours and two sixes during his unbeaten 129-run knock. [P/C: BCCI]

In the same discussion, former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel noted that Shubman Gill adopted a more aggressive approach on Day 2 of the Delhi Test.

"He maintained his concentration and focus. However, we saw a different kind of approach in his batting at the start. We saw a slightly more attacking Shubman Gill. He took his time a little last evening. He might have thought of scoring runs more quickly. There was a definite change in approach," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the stylish batter played straight balls across the line, which he wasn't doing in the preceding Test series against England.

"Another thing that was seen was that he was trying to play the stump-line balls towards midwicket or even squarer today, which we had never seen in the entire England tour. It might have been a plan to play slightly across the line as big shots had to be played," Patel observed.

Shubman Gill added 102 runs for the fifth wicket with Dhruv Jurel. The latter scored 44 runs off 79 deliveries, with Gill declaring the Indian innings after the wicketkeeper-batter was dismissed.

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Edited by Kartik Iyer