Gill lauds Akash Deep after playing with 'so much heart' in England win

Shubman Gill praised the performance of Akash Deep, saying the fast bowler played with "so much heart" in India's second Test victory over England.

Akash starred for the tourists, taking 10 wickets across the match, six of which came in the second innings as India stormed to an emphatic 336-run win on Sunday.

Indeed, his figures of 10-187 were the best return by any Indian bowler in a men's test in England as they levelled up their five-match series at Edgbaston.

He also became only the second Indian bowler, after Chetan Sharma (10-188) in 1986, to pick up a 10-wicket haul in a Test in England, which also came in Birmingham.

Akash's stellar showing came after he replaced star bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the second Test, who was rested after the opening match of the series at Headingley.

And after India recorded their biggest margin of victory, by runs, in an away Test and their first at Edgbaston at the ninth attempt, Gill gave his bowlers much of the credit.

"They [the bowlers] were magnificent," Gill said at the post-match presentation. "I think the way we were able to get through the top order, that was very important for us.

"Both those bowlers bowled brilliantly. Even Prasidh, I felt, he didn't get as many wickets as them, but he also bowled very brilliantly.

"I think he [Akash Deep] bowled with so much heart and the areas and the lengths that he hit, he was just getting the ball to move both ways.

"On wickets like these, it's very difficult to get the ball moving in both directions and he was able to do that. He was just magnificent for us."

10 - Akash Deep's 10/187 at Edgbaston is the best returns by any India bowler in a men's Test in England; he's just the second India bowler to take a 10-wicket haul in the format in England (Chetan Sharma) and the first visiting seamer to do so since Tim Southee in 2013. Cleaned. pic.twitter.com/B4arWnlMLV
— OptaJeev (@OptaJeev) July 6, 2025

Ahead of the third Test, which takes place at Lord's next Thursday, Gill also confirmed that Bumrah would be back in his ranks to take on England.

"Definitely (when asked about Bumrah). Very excited for that [playing at Lord's]," Gill said. "Probably the most iconic cricket stadium in the world.

"And as a kid, everyone dreams about playing there. And I think there is no bigger honour than to be able to captain your country and lead the team there."

Across two innings in the second Test, India scored 1,014 runs – the first time they have reached 1,000 in any red-ball match, which was down to Gill's brilliance at the crease.

His knock of 296 in the first innings was the third-highest score by any visiting captain against England in men's Test cricket, behind only Bob Simpson (311) and Graeme Smith (277).

Gill followed that up by scoring 161 in the second innings. His tally of 430 runs was the second-highest total by any batter in a Test match (Graham Gooch 456 against India in 1990), while he also became the first batter to score 200 and 150 in the same Test match.

"I'd say I'm feeling comfortable [with my batting]," Gill said of his form with the bat.

"I'm definitely feeling comfortable with my game and, hopefully, with my contribution, if we are able to win this series, that would be a great achievement for us."