Who Said What? What did Shubman Gill & Ben Stokes say after the 1st Test?

England bagged a historic five-wicket win over India in the first Test of the five-match series at Headingley, Leeds on Tuesday, June 24.

Moving into the details, India batted first after losing the toss. Despite losing the toss, Indian batters had an exceptional time in the middle as they scored 471 runs in 113 overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal was exceptional with his 101-run knock.

Later, captain Shubman Gill (147) and vice-captain Rishabh Pant (134) also had an impressive time in the middle overs. However, the lower-order collapsed badly as they were restricted to 471 runs. Ben Stokes and Josh Tongue scalped three wickets apiece.

In response, England scored 465 runs to give India a lead of six runs. Ollie Pope was the top scorer with 106 runs, while Harry Brook shone with 99 runs, with Ben Duckett scoring 62 runs as an opener. Jasprit Bumrah scalped a five-wicket haul.

In the third innings, India had another decent batting time in the middle as KL Rahul (137), and Rishabh Pant (118)'s century knocks propelled the team to a total of 364 runs as England were asked to chase down 371 runs in the fourth innings.

England openers Zak Crawley (65) and Ben Duckett (149) stitched a partnership of 188 runs for the first wicket as things went in hosts' favor. Later, Joe Root (53*) and Jamie Smith (44*) sealed the deal for England with five wickets in hand.

On that note, let’s take a look at what Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes said after the conclusion of the Leeds Test.

Indian Test captain Shubman Gill

“I think it was a brilliant Test match. We had our chances, we dropped catches and our lower-order didn't contribute enough, but proud of the team and overall a good effort. Yesterday we were thinking we were going to get around 430 and declare. Unfortunately our last 6 wickets scored only around 20-25 runs which is never a good sign.” 

“Even today after their brilliant opening partnership I felt we still had our chance but just didn't go our way in this match. (On batting collapses) Yes, that was something that we spoke about but when you are out there in the middle it happens so quickly and I think it would be one of those things that we have to rectify in the upcoming matches Could be one of those things we have to rectify in the upcoming matches.”

“Yes, definitely chances don't come easy especially on wickets like these and we dropped quite a few catches but I think we've got a young team, still a learning one and hopefully in the next matches we'll be able to improve on those aspects. (Asked if they could have done anything differently) I mean not really, I think the first session that we bowled we were quite spot on, I think we bowled pretty well.”

“Didn't give away that many runs but you know it's very hard to stop them once the ball gets old and you have to keep picking wickets to be able to stay in the game. Unfortunately some edges didn't find the fielders, and didn't go our way. But I think they batted really well and after the ball got old they took their chances and their opening partnership kind of took the game away from us.”

“(On Jadeja's bowling on Day 5) He bowled brilliantly, I think he did produce some chances for us, a few pop-ups that Rishabh (Pant) didn't take. But that happens in any game of cricket, you kind of expect there would be some chances that wouldn't go your way. (On Bumrah's availability) It's definitely more game by game, you know there's a good break after the Test match so once we're close to the match we'll see.”

England Test captain Ben Stokes

“We’ve got some good memories here, this is another one to add to it. Awesome Test match to be a part of, going into the final hour of day 5 and getting the run-chase. You don’t know what’s going to happen before a ball is bowled. You have to do what you think is going to give you the best chance of winning.”

“We were trying to look at what will give us the best opportunity to win. We saw a bit of grass and moisture on the pitch, we thought it will do a bit for us. The opposition was allowed to play well, though they played very well in that first session. Unbelievable. The pressure of a fourth innings and going out there is tough, especially in England.”

“That partnership between Zak (Crawley) and Ben (Duckett) was incredible to get us going. To get that down to set us off in a run-chase was incredible. They complement each other really well. Though Zak stayed very calm. Duckett as well, really good. Zak’s 60-odd was very important as well.”

“Chasing down totals gives this team a lot of confidence. To win against quality opposition, like we have for a number of times, it gives us confidence. Been a great start to the series, got four more hard games to come. Honestly I think there’s a lot of skill that has contributed to winning this Test match but also the attitude we showed was incredible.”

“We were on the field for long periods of time in this game, though we turned up with the attitude that we could break this game open at any time. Josh Tongue’s spells in both innings were really impressive. There was a lot of skill that helped us win this game but also the attitude we showed was great as well.”

“I think this Test match shows that if it goes down to the last hour on Day 5 then it’s a pretty good wicket, you always feel like you need to be the one to break the game open. Like I said, Tongue’s spells were superb to clean up the Indian tail quickly. Very much looking forward to the next four.”

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