Gill, Rahul Steady India After Early Collapse Against England

After an initial jolt, Shubman Gill and KL Rahul provided much-needed stability to the Indian innings during the second session of the Manchester Test. Their composed partnership followed a frenetic three-over spell before lunch, which had significantly dented India's response to England's formidable lead.

The Indian captain brought up his fourth fifty-plus score of the series © Getty

Gill reached his half-century and, together with Rahul, forged an unbroken partnership that took India to 86/2 by Tea on Day 4. However, the team still trailed by 225 runs.

At the beginning of the second session, Rahul and Gill managed to score a few boundaries. However, the disciplined bowling of Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer kept the batsmen on their toes, consistently testing their defenses.

England reviewed an lbw appeal from Archer against Gill early in the session, but the on-field decision of not-out was upheld due to a lack of conclusive evidence. Gill was also struck on the glove by Archer, and faced several more lbw inquiries. Rahul also endured a barrage of testing deliveries, adding to the pressure.

Brydon Carse and Woakes maintained the pressure, consistently finding movement to trouble the batsmen. However, Gill and Rahul countered with some well-timed boundaries, bringing up a fifty-run partnership. Gill confidently drove Archer for a boundary and executed an upper cut for another four, before cutting Liam Dawson for a further four to move into the 40s. Rahul adopted a more cautious approach, focusing on defense. England lost their second review when Carse struck Gill on the pad, with replays showing the ball was going down leg.

Gill benefited from some luck when Dawson dropped a catch at gully off a drive from Carse. Rahul also top-edged a sweep off Dawson, but the ball landed safely. Joe Root bowled a late over, with Gill clipping him for three runs to reach his half-century. Gill and Rahul ensured India reached Tea without losing any wickets.

Earlier in the day, Ben Stokes led a strong counter-attack with a brilliant 141, his first Test century in over two years. This helped England reach a formidable 669, extending their lead to a daunting 311. India had hoped to dismiss the tail quickly, but Stokes had other ideas. After Dawson fell early to Jasprit Bumrah, the English captain launched his attack, reaching his century off Mohammed Siraj and adding a further 41 runs in just 34 balls. In the process, he became only the third all-rounder in Test history to achieve the 7000-run and 200-wicket milestone. Carse contributed a brisk 47 as England attacked both spin and pace, before being bowled out just before lunch.

The English momentum continued as Woakes delivered a crushing double-wicket maiden, removing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan to leave India reeling.

Brief scores: India 358 & 86/2 (Shubman Gill 52, KL Rahul 30; Chris Woakes 2-25) trail England 669 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141; Ravindra Jadeja 4-143) by 225 runs.