England in Deep trouble after Gill's double century

India captain Shubman Gill scored a brilliant maiden Test double century before stand-in fast bowler Akash Deep reduced England to 13-2 at Edgbaston on Thursday, claiming two wickets in consecutive balls.

Gill's 269 was the foundation of India's first-innings total of 587 all out on the second day of the second Test, with England finishing the day on 77-3 — a massive deficit of 510 runs.

Deep, who was only playing due to India resting the outstanding Jasprit Bumrah (the world's top-ranked Test bowler), was drafted in as a replacement. Bumrah is only scheduled to play in three matches of this five-match series in order to manage the effects of a back injury.

The 28-year-old Deep conceded 12 runs in his first over, with Zak Crawley hitting two boundaries. However, his second over was a very different story. The paceman bowled a double-wicket maiden that left England in dire straits at 13-2.

He first had Ben Duckett, fresh from an excellent 149 in England's five-wicket win in the first Test at Headingley, edging to third slip, where Gill completed a superb catch to cap off an already outstanding day for himself.

Next ball, Ollie Pope fell for a golden duck, closing the face of the bat and nicking Deep to second slip, with KL Rahul holding on to the catch at the second attempt. Joe Root survived the hat-trick delivery.

India, who had been punished for dropping several catches in the cordon at Headingley, held on to another when Mohammed Siraj had Crawley edging to Karun Nair at first slip, leaving England at 25-3.

Root (18 not out) and Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook (30 not out) then prevented further collapse with an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 52.

But the day belonged to India, who are aiming for just their fourth series win in England, following victories in 1971, 1986, and 2007.

Majestic Gill

Earlier, the 25-year-old Gill, in just his second Test as captain, set a new record for the highest score by an Indian batsman in a Test in England, surpassing the legendary Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at the Oval in 1979.

Gill also received excellent support from spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar, with partnerships of 203 and 144 for the sixth and seventh wickets, respectively.

Already unbeaten on 168 at lunch, Gill continued to bat in near-perfect fashion in the afternoon session. He was particularly severe on Shoaib Bashir, cover-driving the off-spinner for four and lofting him for six, with Bashir proving largely ineffective against the frontline batsmen, ending with figures of 3-167 from 45 overs.

A hooked single off fast bowler Josh Tongue, whose two wickets cost 119 runs, brought Gill to 200, with the jubilant captain bowing to a capacity crowd in celebration.

England then brought on part-time medium pacer Brook in a desperate attempt to "buy" a wicket, but Gill dispatched him for three successive fours, the best being a straight drive.

However, it was occasional off-spinner Root who eventually bowled the recalled Sundar, with a delivery that turned and bounced.

By this stage, Gill had surpassed his own Test-best score for the second match in a row, after scoring 147 at Headingley. His marathon innings at Edgbaston, lasting over eight-and-a-half hours, finally ended with a rare false shot when a tired pull off Tongue found Pope at square leg, leaving India at 574-8.

Several England players shook Gill's hand after he had faced 387 balls, hitting 30 fours and three sixes.

India, having been sent in to bat by England captain Ben Stokes, resumed on 310-5, with Gill unbeaten on 114 and Jadeja on 41. The pair had already put on 99 runs by the close of play on Wednesday, following an entertaining 87 from Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Gill had already become just the seventh player to score a century in each of his first two (or more) Tests as captain.

Statistically, it was also the most secure Test hundred recorded in England since analysts Cricviz began tracking such data in 2006. On Wednesday, Gill's false shot percentage was just 3.5%. The average for a Test century in England is 12%.

But with sunny conditions providing ideal batting conditions on Thursday, India hoped for even more runs from Gill and Jadeja after costly collapses of 7-41 and 6-31 at Headingley — and they delivered.