IND vs ENG: Scintillating Shubman, riveting Rohit dazzle in Dharamsala

With both Rohit and Gill hitting centuries India moved into the driver's seat. It was the 12th Test ton for Rohit and the 4th for Gill

When India started Day 2 during the India vs England 5th Test at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Friday, March 8, 2024, they cleared their intentions with brilliant hitting against Shoab Bashir and James Anderson.

It was expected that the English bowlers would get some purchase in the air or off the wicket. But Indian batters, especially Gill, made sure that nothing of that sort happened. He hit Anderson for 14 runs in only the fourth over of the day.

Lucky escape for Rohit

Rohit got a lucky break when he was dropped by Zak Crawley at leg slip off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir. He was batting on 72 and it was the 37th over of the innings. After that England remained on the backfoot as they found nothing at all in the wicket for either the pacers or their spinners.

12th Test century

Rohit, who had already reached his fifty on Day 1 was not the one who took the attack to the opposition. Apart from one over against Bashir, where he hit a six and a four on consecutive balls, he trod carefully and almost had a leading edge on 99 but was lucky enough that it fell in a safe space, and he managed to reach his 12th hundred in Tests and second in the series.

Gill hits 100 and reaches 400 runs

Gill, who reached his fifty in just 65 balls, managed to get to his hundred even quicker, reaching the milestone in only 137 balls. He even managed to reach 400 runs in this series and is only the second Indian batter after Jaiswal to do so.