‘Drawing series will be significant’: Gill

London: In his maiden Test series as a captain, Shubman Gill has done exceptionally well as a batter and more than met expectations as the leader. He’s the leading scorer for the series with 722 runs but, more importantly, he stands with a good chance of helping India level a fiercely fought series 2-2.

Only three Indian teams have won a Test series in England, so a drawn affair can certainly be considered a solid first step for the 25-year-old if India are able to defeat the hosts in the final Test that starts at The Oval on Thursday. Gill, speaking to the media on Wednesday, called the baptism in England a learning experience and wished they could sign off on a high.

“Very significant,” Gill said to a question on what a win in the final Test could mean for his young transitional side. “I mean, if you look at the kind of cricket that we have played, sometimes, the scoreline of the series (1-2 in favour of England) doesn’t determine that. I think every match that we have played was very difficult to decide which team is going to win after four days of cricket. If we are able to do that for every match, for four matches, coming outside of India with a relatively young team, I think it is going to be a big achievement for us if we are able to level the series. And the series has been a great learning curve for me. Hopefully, we are going to finish on a high.”

England will be missing the services of their skipper Ben Stokes and Gill called it a massive blow to the hosts. “A big miss definitely for England. I think the way whenever he comes on to bowl or bat, he always makes things interesting. He always makes something happen. So, from their perspective, I think it is definitely a loss for them. But having said that, you know, the players who come in to play for the country, they are as competitive and they bring as much as to the table as any of the players.”

Gill also downplayed head coach Gautam Gambhir’s outburst against The Oval’s chief curator Lee Fortis on Tuesday after Indians were told to view the pitch from beyond the 2.4-metre periphery. “As long as you are wearing rubber spikes or you are barefoot, I think you can see the wicket from close. I don’t know what happened exactly yesterday in terms of why the curator refused. But we have played four matches before and no one refused us. And we have played so much cricket and coaches have seen the wicket so many times. I don’t know what the fuss was all about.”

Sparks have flown consistently since the third evening of the third Test at Lord’s but Gill said there’s no bad blood between the two teams. “I think the relationship is fantastic. But when you are on the field, you are trying to win a game at the end of the day. And both teams have been very competitive. And sometimes when you are competitive, you know, in the heat of the moment, you do or say things that you might not do. But I think once the match is over, there is mutual respect between both teams.”